Hotter weather in the first half of May has caused warmer, drier soils across Illinois, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey.

A team of Illinois State University researchers are evaluating the impact of cover crops on carbon sequestration and organic matter.

Keeping the massive microbial community in soils happy is vital in crop production and research is underway that focuses on the relationships between cover crop selection and microbes.

A pair of ospreys that nested near live electrical lines atop a northern Indiana utility pole now have a safer home thanks to a utility crew that moved their nest.

California’s water use jumped dramatically in March, state officials said, as one of the driest stretches on record prompted a wave of homeowners to start watering their lawns earlier than usual in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pleas for conservation amid a severe drought.

Field trials of a new cover crop, CoverCress, are in its third year at the Illinois State University Farm and multiple benefits are being realized as intended.

Riggs Beer Company and the Small Grains Improvement Program at the University of Illinois are teaming up from 3 to 5 p.m. on May 21 for their first Field Festival.

There were 1.7 days suitable for field work in Illinois during the week ending May 8, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Heartland Regional Field Office.

Corn planting progress was well behind the five-year average through early May and an agronomist urges farmers to wait for ideal conditions.