As Winter gives way to Spring and the temperature rises, one of the most important times in the agricultural industry is on the horizon: planting. Months of preparation and waiting since harvest will finally come to an end as farmers begin to put the next crop in the ground. However, even with a...

The average age of farmers in Illinois hovers at around sixty years of age. This statistic implies that many current farmers have memories of the 1980s when the world of Midwest farming fell apart: many family farm operations were forced out of business. The 1970s saw a sharp increase in grain...

Older machine sheds built in the 1970s dot the Illinois farm landscape. Are these old sheds worth keeping and using as rental buildings? The challenge is that many old pole sheds are in bad shape and too small for modern farm equipment. These sheds are expensive to maintain and repair. The owner is...

In August 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new herbicide strategy aimed at better aligning with the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This new strategy will alter pesticide labels by adding extra mitigation measures that seek to reduce pesticide exposure to over 900...

The agriculture industry continues to change rapidly, impacting everyone from the producers to the industry professionals to the food consumers. University of Illinois Extension is growing its team of commercial agriculture educators to provide research-based, unbiased information to landowners,...

Driving through the country this time of year, you’re likely to see two things: corn and soybeans.  In 2023, 11.2 million acres of land in Illinois were planted in corn and nearly 10.4 million acres in soybeans.  These two crops make up the vast majority of our agricultural production in...

By Carla Rich Montez, Extension Master Naturalist serving Fulton, Mason, Peoria, and Tazewell counties   Almost everywhere you look on Brent Fowler’s farm, a restored habitat is visible. But it hasn’t always been that way. Fowler grew up during the era of farm modernization when...

With a new year comes opportunities for a new start… especially in the garden. As we look through seed catalogs, past garden records, and develop plans for next year’s planting, crop rotation in an annual garden bed is an important management method to implement. Crop rotation is a cultural...

As a teenager, one of my farm duties was cultivating the weeds out of the corn and soybeans. I preferred to drive our bigger tractor because it was easier to handle, but the cultivator was mounted on the back which posed some additional challenges to the job at hand. Back in those days, GPS was...

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...