Community Contributed

Algal blooms pose a significant challenge in both in Illinois and the Gulf of Mexico. One of the leading causes of these algal blooms is excess nutrients — primarily nitrogen and phosphorus.

Roll up your sleeves and get ready to make the most delicious cookies. You will impress your family and friends, as well as Santa, by incorporating this secret ingredient — nonfat dry milk.

Farm to School, a movement that strives to offer healthy local foods and educational opportunities, allows students to learn where their food comes from, why food is good for their bodies and even how to grow their own food.

May is Osteoporosis Awareness Month. Research shows that dairy foods are integral for building and maintaining a lifetime of healthy bones because they contain nutrients like calcium, protein, vitamin D, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium.

I love parsnips. Often parsnips, large white carrot-like root vegetables, are substituted for celery in my soups and stews. The cultivated parsnip that we eat heralds from the appropriately named wild parsnip, Pastinaca sativa. However, wild parsnip is a plant to avoid.

Artificial insemination gives producers access to high-powered genetics for their operation’s goals. Let’s look at the supplies you’ll need and best practices for the most success.

Ideally, labor goes off without a hitch, and you have a healthy calf, foal, kid or lamb on the ground within about an hour of the labor process starting.

Since 2015, St. Louis District Dairy Council has brought hundreds of thousands of kids and calves together in classrooms across Missouri and Illinois. This unique pairing is possible through Adopt-A-Calf, an interactive program designed to teach students about local food, specifically milk.

As with all insects, spotted lanternfly has a life cycle that contains various stages of development. The adults can be found from July through December.

As schools welcome students back, many will open the cafeteria doors for the first time in nearly 18 months.

The fall decorating season is upon us. Youths will make beautiful custom wreaths in a workshop from 10 a.m. to noon Aug. 28 at the University of Illinois Extension Education Center and Community Teaching Kitchen, 944 First St., La Salle.

While it may seem like every insect out there is trying to eat your plants, not all the insects in the garden are pests. Fewer than 1% of all insects are considered pests. The vast majority are beneficial or benign.

Growing up, a summer meal at grandma and grandpa’s house wasn’t complete without a giant, juicy tomato and fried squash blossoms. Squash blossoms are one example of edible flowers that are already growing in our gardens and just waiting for us to enjoy.

Several reports over the last years and a recent presentation at a Carthage Veterinary Services Conference have highlighted some significant changes occurring in the design of housing facilities for pigs in China.

Here in central Illinois, this spring has delivered its share of surprises. The planting season got off to a good start in April with warm and dry weather with a lot of corn and soybean being planted.

Soil health is still a relatively new idea and it is currently getting a lot of attention. The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded $6.3 million dollars in soil health grants in April 2021.

Over the course of its 50-plus year history, the American Horse Council has conducted numerous national economic impact studies of the U.S. horse industry, with the most recent study completed in 2017. The next study will take place in 2022.

When was the last time you grabbed your favorite shovel or spade and took a walk through your fields? A simple shovel test can reveal several things about soil that you may want to take into consideration this year and looking forward.

The movement of keeping hens in your backyard for the purpose of providing fresh eggs has received a lot of attention the past 10 years or so. Many local communities have approved the practice of keeping a few hens for the purpose of providing fresh eggs. Some communities, however, have not approved this practice. It is essential to follow proper management practices in order to be successful in keeping a few hens in your backyard.

The growing season seems to be accelerating with crops benefitting from warmer temperatures than experienced in early May. That same growth spurt is true of weeds. While we all hope for a weed-free field, remember that performance of herbicides is affected by weather conditions and several additional factors.

In 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued the Interim Final Rule for the Domestic Production of Hemp, legalizing hemp production — grain, fiber and cannabinoids — in the United States for the first time in nearly 70 years.

As our 2020 quarantine puppies have grown into adult dogs, our lawns might be seeing more wear and tear in 2021. The question of dog-damaged lawns is a popular topic this spring. Let’s start by examining why and how our lovable pooches are so efficient at destroying our turf.