Dan Sanderson is the recipient of the 2025 Illinois Leopold Conservation Award.

The moderate drought we are back in has hastened the row crop maturation and held back everything else needing a drink.

An investment in farm drainage tile can boost crop yields, reduce financial risk and ultimately increase the long-term profitability of your farm.

After years of rising input costs and volatile markets, Illinois farmers finally have updated farm policy that reflects their needs in the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” landmark legislation that delivers real, meaningful wins for Illinois farmers.

Eliot Clay didn’t know it in his youth but his later career as an advocate for conservation was in his DNA.

Why wouldn’t you want to farm the land in a way that builds soil biodiversity, delivers a return on investment and restores wildlife habitat?

It’s time for Congress to act now to make critical biofuels available year-round.

Learning about regenerative farming practices triggered a love of farming for Jessica Davies.

Over the years we’ve explored the environmental and economic benefits of adjusting management practices to include conservation.

Numerous organizations sharing common goals aimed at protecting soil health and water quality joined in a “Cultivate Connections” luncheon during Ag Day at the Illinois State Fair.

A diverse cover crop mix helps build soil organic matter, increase soil water-holding capacity and infiltration, and improve nutrient use efficiency.

The Livingston County Soil and Water Conservation District will host a Women in Ag meeting — Specialty Crop Production and Our Soils.

We think now in our second rotation that things are improving, not just from better practices from us, but from the steers perhaps having less anxiety about what and where they are grazing.

One weather event completely changed the course of my farming operation. I was driving down the road and had to slow down because something was on the road — it was soil from our field.

The Indiana Soybean Alliance and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council pulled together experienced farmers to volunteer in a program called Farm Advisors. These farmers want to share with others what has — and hasn’t — worked on their farms.

Incorporating cover crops into their regenerative farming system has been a learning process for the Riskedal family this spring.

Even small Midwestern farms can harness the power of AI to boost productivity without breaking the bank.

Chris Hoffman is president of Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. He is a first-generation hog and chicken farmer.

Illinois Farm Bureau is hosting Nutrient Stewardship Field Days this summer for farmers and industry partners to collaborate and discuss ongoing research and innovative approaches to nutrient stewardship.

It sounds simple: Control what you can to get crops off to a strong start, so they finish the season even stronger. Yet, doing so is not always so simple in practice when agronomic and daily management challenges arise and demand attention.

As another large dust storm impacted Illinois, the conversation and questions continue about why and how to get the dust to settle and stay in the field rather than across roadways.

The Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts is sounding the alarm as the fiscal year 2026 state budget continues to underfund the state’s 97 Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

It was a mixed bag of victories and losses for locally produced food and conservationist efforts when the Illinois General Assembly passed its $55.2 billion fiscal year 2026 budget.

When the Make America Healthy Again Commission released its report, it raised concerns across the agriculture community.

Understanding Illinois property tax calculations is complex and confusing. Properties such as personal residences are taxed based on fair market value.

The Riskedal family uses regenerative agricultural practices on their farm where they grow corn, soybeans and wheat along with feeding cattle for a freezer beef enterprise.

This is the first in a series of columns featuring conversations with state Farm Bureau presidents about current issues in agriculture.

I’ve got my bean crop planted into green standing cereal rye that had been sprayed just the day previous. It went into great soil conditions.

Planting season went smoothly for Craig Swartz and his father, Gary, and was wrapped up in record fashion.

May is National Beef Month, a month-long celebration to kick off the unofficial start of summer grilling season and, of course, promote America’s favorite protein — beef.

Janna Morgan is the fifth generation of teachers in her family.

Focusing on soil health is important for farmers since soil fertility is not inexhaustible.

I love springtime on the farm. Everything is fresh and green. Everywhere you look, you see life.

Science plays a massive and multifaceted role in the world today. It is woven into pretty much every aspect of our lives, whether we notice it or not.

The Illinois Soybean Association has named six agronomic professionals to its 2025 IL Soy Envoy class.

Rainscaping is a useful and aesthetic way for communities to manage runoff water.

Beyond a comprehensive look at farmland values, the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers’ annual report also features other tidbits of interest in each Prairie State region.

Some of the highlights I came away with from the Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition’s 2025 Grazing Conference are: soil microbes help the water percolate through the soil and cover crops help feed the soil microbes which make them multiply.

Twenty-five Illinois Farm Bureau members recently graduated from the Agricultural Leaders of Tomorrow, an extensive leadership development program designed to help participants develop leadership and advocacy skills and to become a voice for Illinois agriculture.

Disruption is the key to adaptive grazing systems.

American Farmland Trust focuses on protecting farmland, keeping farmers on the land and promoting sound farming practices.

A ribbon-cutting celebration and open house marked the opening of Nutrien Ag Solutions’ Innovation Farm.

The Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition announced the recipients of the 2025 Master Grazier Awards at the ILGLC Annual Grazing Conference in Springfield.

Food, feed and fuel production is a global business, but it still all comes down to finding the best solutions for individual farmers on their fields.

Between the chartering of new FFA chapters, celebrations of FFA Week, announcements of District Golden Owl Award recipients, convention preparation and chapter banquets, February brought many blessings.

As we bid farewell to February, I find myself aching for the warmth and promise of spring in the heart of middle America.

Farmers may add root structure as another trait to consider when choosing corn hybrids for their operation.

Micronutrients, pet peeves, social media and common-sense agronomy were just a few of the topics at the Illinois Soybean Association Field Advisor Forum panel discussion.

Among the ways to improve profitability during times of lower prices and high input costs is to implement the 5% rule.

It’s common knowledge that weeds impact cash crop yields, but they can also impact farmland values.