As I write this, scattered showers are moving through much of southern Indiana. It is unclear yet how much moisture these showers will produce for any given area. What is clear is that May and June have been unusually dry for most of Indiana and Illinois. How will this dry spell affect overall...

Illinois has $28M to support local farmers and fight hunger in Illinois through USDA’s Local Food Purchasing Assistance (LFPA) program. LFPA aims to strengthen the Illinois food system over the next two years by purchasing food at fair market value from socially disadvantaged growers and...

Our production and demonstration garden at the Unity Community Center in Normal received a nice infrastructure upgrade recently — a small high tunnel. Besides adding the capacity to grow protected culture crops over the cooler months for our free community food donation program, it is allowing me...

Be part of the largest food, farmers market, and specialty crop conference in Illinois. Share your knowledge, lessons learned, or research with industry leaders and growers across the state. Consider speaking at the From Food to Flowers: Everything Local Conference hosted by the Illinois Specialty...

Mild dryness in April and early May has quickly transitioned to a problem following a very dry end to May and first few weeks of June. Most of the state has had less than 50% of normal rainfall since mid-May, and parts of central and northern Illinois are operating with 50 to 60% of normal rainfall...