URBANA, Ill. – This week, families across the U.S. will gather around Thanksgiving tables in a traditional celebration of the season’s bounty. By improving how key crops transform sunlight into yield, Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) will one day help farmers put food on more tables worldwide, especially where it is needed most.

URBANA, Ill. – Light is essential to all plants, indoor and out.

“It is easy enough to spot plants that aren’t receiving enough light to grow, but what about flowering, which is promoted by light sensitivity in plants?” said Andrew Holsinger, University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator. “The type of plant and its location in the house are important for the ability to flower.”

URBANA, Ill. – While winter can give gardeners a nice break from their usual garden maintenance, they undoubtedly miss the ability to harvest and enjoy the fresh garden bounty. “Grow fresh, flavorful herbs indoors this winter to add some green to your home and zest to your recipes,” says Brittnay Haag, University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.

URBANA, Ill. — Two University of Illinois scientists, along with research and extension collaborators across 13 states, have received a national honor for improving water quality in relation to agricultural drainage. 

The 2018 National Excellence in Multistate Research Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture was presented to the group officially known as the North Central Extension Research Activities (NCERA) 217 Committee on Drainage Design and Management Practices to Improve Water Quality.

URBANA, Ill. – With approximately 80 percentof our nation’s water supply going towards agriculture, it’s fair to say it takes a lot of water to grow crops. In a climate with less predictable rainfall patterns and more intense droughts, scientists at the University of Illinois are working to reduce water consumption by developing more efficient crops.    

URBANA, Ill. – This summer marked the fifth year for Jennifer Fishburn’s vegetable garden’s current location. “Besides the okra, this was the least amount of produce that I have ever harvested,” says the University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator. “Squash bugs killed the squash plants, tomato plants succumbed to disease and lack of fertility, and rabbits ate all the green bean plants.” 

URBANA, Ill. – The Perennial Plant Association has selected Stachys ‘Hummelo’ as the 2019 Perennial Plant of the Year. Sometimes called betony, this well-behaved perennial offers a neat basal clump of glossy, dark green leaves and rose-lavender dense spikes atop mostly leafless flowering stems. The flowers are arranged in verticillasters (false whorls). Bloom time is July to September, so ‘Hummelo’ offers lovely color in the heat of the summer. 

Students in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois are learning hands-on about food systems, starting from seed improvement and soil science to commercial food processing, as well as bioprocessing technologies for industry, thanks to new facilities and renovations across the ACES campus.

When deciding which sweet corn hybrids to plant, vegetable processors need to consider whether they want their contract growers using a workhorse or a racehorse. Is it better to choose a hybrid with exceptional yields under ideal growing conditions (i.e., the racehorse) or one that performs consistently well across ideal and less-than-ideal conditions (i.e., the workhorse)? New research from the University of Illinois suggests the workhorse is the winner in processing sweet corn.

URBANA, Ill. – Consumers today insist on all-natural everything, and food dyes are no exception. Even if food manufacturers are willing to make the change, current sources of natural dyes are expensive and hard to come by. Now, a large University of Illinois project is filling the gap with colored corn.