Specialty Crops

Events

Managing Common Squash and Pumpkin Pests

May 20, 2025

Farm Property Insurance

June 23, 2025

Blog Posts

From Dixon Springs Ag Center: High tunnel cover crop termination

April 30, 2025

Tomato and pepper transplants have been planted in all three high tunnels at DSAC. The control tunnel, no cover crop or cut flower treatments in last...

Fresh ginger rhizome cultivation in Illinois - the pre-sprout process

April 30, 2025

Fresh ginger rhizome (see photo) CAN be grown in Illinois, and it can fetch $20-25 per pound, retail, but is a challenging crop to grow. The best...

different lettuces growing in a garden plot

Lettuce varieties for spring

April 30, 2025

I am sharing some observational results from 5 lettuce varieties I grew this spring. Five lettuce varieties were set out as transplants 2/28/...

Special focus: Notching for improved apple branching

April 30, 2025

A growing concern observed last year was the lack of lateral branches—or “feathers”—on young apple trees, especially in high-density training systems...

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News Releases

A person stands in the middle of a crop field.

May 12, 2025

University of Illinois Agronomy Days series returns to ACES
URBANA, Ill. — Summer is back, which means the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will return with its Agronomy Days series, where Illinois growers can learn more about the latest productivity,...

A corn field with a sunset showing in the background.

April 28, 2025

Summer Twilight Series continues the tradition of learning and connection with local growers
SIMPSON, Ill. - For a decade, the Summer Twilight Series has been a beloved tradition in southern Illinois, bringing farmers, educators, and community members together to explore the diversity and innovation of local agriculture. Now in its tenth year, Illinois Extension is proud to continue...

A man pours sap from a metal pot to another container outside

February 11, 2025

Maple syrup season is a short, sweet window of opportunity for tapping into trees
SIMPSON, Ill. — Maple syrup is a one-ingredient food. Only one thing goes into making it: the sap of maple trees collected in early spring. Every year in late January, the University of Illinois Extension...

November 12, 2024

Tara Heath promoted to Extension crops educator
LEWISTOWN, Ill. - 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...

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Videos

Mushroom Production on Small Farms

Direct market farmers, homesteaders, land-owners, hobby farms, and backyard growers can learn practices to improve production and increase profit.

Growing Shiitake Mushrooms

On this week’s Good Growing podcast we talk with Illinois Extension local foods educator Nick Frillman about growing gourmet shiitake mushrooms in your own backyard. Nick shows us the tools and methods used to turn fresh cut logs of white oak and sugar maple into inoculated “bolts” that will...

Staff

Alexis Barnes

Extension Educator, Local Food Systems Small Farms

Serving DuPage, Kane and Kendall Counties

Tara Heath

Commercial Ag Educator, Agronomy/Crop Sciences

Serving Fulton, Mason, Peoria and Tazewell Counties

Alexis Barnes

Tara Heath

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