Matters relating to agriculture, including farming and agribusiness.
Darrell Hoemann
A central Illinois farmer harvests his crop shortly before sundown on Sept. 24, 2015. U.S. agricultural exports reached a record level in 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A new trade deal aimed at cutting thousands of taxes and opening markets with 11 Pacific Rim nations has drawn heavy lobbying from some of America’s largest agribusinesses.
The deal – known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership – was reached in early October. It is designed to ease the flow of goods between partner nations by lowering restrictive trade policies and regulations.
Darrell Hoemann
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, middle, listens to a researchers on Sept. 10, 2015. Vilsack was visiting the Energy Farm just south of Urbana, Ill. From left: German Bollero, head of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's crop science department; Tim Mies, director of the Energy Farm; Robert Hauser, ACES dean; Patrick Brown, assistant professor in plant breeding and genetics
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced on Thursday that his department will award nearly two dozen states with millions of dollars to build the gas pumps and other infrastructure needed to supply American drivers with more renewable fuel.
Darrell Hoemann
Lawyer William Enyart talks with farmers at the Hilton Garden Inn on Tuesday, September 1, 2015.
Nearly a year after China re-opened its doors to imported U.S. corn, one former U.S. representative is recruiting Illinois farmers into a mass-action lawsuit as plaintiffs.
Thousands of farmers – along with major agribusinesses Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill – are suing the Swiss chemical company Syngenta for selling a genetically modified strain of corn in the United States before its approval by China.
Darrell Hoemann
Dr. Joni White with some of her FFA students in the greenhouse at Urbana High School in Urbana, Illinois on Wednesday, May 27, 2015. From left: Noah Dowling, Abram Washington, Austin Carter, Anthony Tuel, Dr. Joni White, Richardo Vargas and Carson Bryant.
The state budget for agricultural education is once again coming under the scythe.
In June 2010, the Illinois State Board of Education adopted a budget that zeroed out the $3 million funding under Gov. Pat Quinn, but by August, Quinn announced he restored it to $1.9 million.
Darrell Hoemann
Jacob Meisner, a member of the Illinois Collegiate Farm Bureau, on the dairy farm he works at near his home in Paris, IL on Tuesday, May 19, 2015.
With less than 2 percent of Champaign’s population involved in production agriculture, the Champaign County Farm Bureau has made it part of its mission to educate the community about the work being done by Champaign’s agriculture industry.
The average yearly amount of taxpayer money funding the highly subsidized federal crop insurance program has more than doubled in just over a decade.
From 2003 through 2007, the government spent an average of $3.4 billion per year on crop insurance, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
Darrell Hoemann
Jenny Mennenga with soybean seeds from last year at her family farm near LeRoy on Monday, January 26, 2015.
Jenny Mennenga farms corn and soybean with her husband between Le Roy and Farmer City in central Illinois. This past harvest brought Mennenga’s farm record corn production, though soybean yields were just “fairly average.”
Darrell Hoemann/C-U Citizen Access
Bev Ehler in her equipment shed at her rural Thomasboro, IL fame on Friday, October 17, 2014. photo by Darrell Hoemann/C-U Citizen Access
After making record profits from 2007-2013, farmers in Champaign County who rent their land are likely to lose money on both corn and soybeans in this year and next, said a University of Illinois economist.
Across the state, 2014 saw record highs for cash rent. In Champaign County, the average cash renter pays $253 per acre.
Lauren Rohr
Zack Grant runs the Sustainable Student Farm at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Spring, 2014
By Lauren Rohr/For CU-CitizenAccess.org -- The Sustainable Student Farm serves a variety of purposes on the University of Illinois campus. Hundreds of students gain…
By Claire Everett/CU-CitizenAccess.org -- More than 300 researchers from around the world gathered at the University of Illinois this week for a major conference…