Gov. JB Pritzker’s career as a venture capitalist and philanthropist from Chicago seems far-removed from agriculture, yet they parallel one another, according to the two-term governor.

What makes a state fair so unique is it provides multiple, wide-ranging experiences within the same day.

Brad Zimmerman wrapped up a busy season of applying fungicides and foliar feeding via drone and has entered the meeting season.

With the sustainable aviation fuel coming online, CoverCress looks like it’s going to be something that we need to at least take a look at as a valid additional crop that we could grow.

A trio of new herbicide products to control tough weeds with anticipated launches in 2027 were highlighted at the recent BASF Showcase Plot Tour.

The Tyson beef processing plant closure at nearby Joslin was an unpleasant surprise. Now most local cattle sold will be discounted the freight cost to go to more distant plants — a consequence of low beef supply.

The heat and humidity this summer has been hard on feeding cattle and at least one somewhat-round cattle feeder.

Many years we see things brown and drying up and grass getting short, but that is just not the case this year.

Spraying fungicide for the corn and soybean crops as well as the last nitrogen application have been completed for the 2026 growing season at Wessels Family Farm.

Lower projected corn and wheat stocks bumped up anticipated season-average prices while soybeans were unchanged in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s supply and demand estimates report.

The nation’s second-highest average soybean yield and the second-highest corn production for grain on record were projected in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s crop production report.

Tolvera, a new herbicide to control broadleaf and grasses in winter wheat and other small grains, was used across over 1 million acres in its first year in the marketplace.

Farmers for Soil Health, the farmer-led initiative launched in 2022 to double cover crop acres on U.S. farmland by 2030, has reopened enrollment for 2026 with increased per-acre payments and a simplified one-year contract designed to remove barriers for growers.

It’s been 40 years since Congress last passed major agricultural labor reform. In that time, farming has changed, but our labor system has not kept up.

Utilizing corn stalks for winter grazing is an option for cattlemen to impact their profitability.

Between wrapping up a challenging wheat harvest and managing other farm tasks, From the Fields reporter Clay Geyer has had little time to slow down.

It has been an exceptional year and all-around extremely wetter-than-normal growing season. When it rains, we see inches — not tenths.

Organic corn earned substantially more than conventional corn over the past five years. So, why aren’t more farmers making the switch?

Every farm lost takes with it generations of knowledge, community leadership and the heartbeat of local economies.

Additional financial support is critical to offset trade-related losses, rising input costs and the deep financial pressure facing U.S. row crop and specialty crop producers.

Seed Genetics Direct’s 2026 Wheat Yield Contest entries averaged 119.1 bushels per acre, with an average test weight of 58.1 pounds per acre.

Although Trinette Olin worked on writing a children’s book for many years, it took retirement for her to complete the project.

Alan Guebert experienced countless changes over his long career as an ag journalist, ranging from technology to news coverage.

Overall agricultural conditions in the Corn Belt continue to be dampened by lower commodity prices, higher input costs and tighter credit.

Heat stress is not something to ignore.

At Christmas, I told my wife we’d do one of her bucket-list items: go to Alaska for two weeks.

Chad Bell harvested his two fields of wheat and once the straw is baled he will be planting a cover crop on these acres.

I’m working with this grower, Wendell Good, that I love working with here in central Illinois. His passion is wheat, whereas a lot of people don’t care to plant wheat or harvest wheat in the middle of July when it’s 100 degrees outside. He loves wheat. I do, too.

Old- and new-crop ending stocks for corn and soybeans fell below trade expectations in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s balance sheet estimates.

Wheat harvest is underway in key states including Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, although some farmers, particularly in far western areas of the Wheat Belt, have found little to no grain to gather.

With the updated data from the latest quarterly grain stocks and acreage reports, the U.S. Department of Agriculture made some slight adjustments in the crop balance sheets.

The fat cattle market continues to roll along with setbacks followed shortly with new highs.

An expected large shift away from corn acres didn’t happen, based on a planted acres survey of farmers by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“I” state farmers shifted to more soybean acres and less corn and winter wheat acres, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s planted acres survey.

Grain stocks are higher than a year ago heading into the last quarter of the 2025-2026 marketing year.

The latest projections highlight the challenges farmers continue to face as input costs remain elevated with historically low commodity prices.

Rain showers over the past several weeks have resulted in challenges to spray for weeds and sidedress anhydrous on Wessels Family Farm.

Corn and soybeans struggled for a week or two after planting during the flash drought, but a few passing showers have sent corn past "knee-high by Fourth of July" by leaps and bounds.

The wheat crop is maturing at a rapid rate. I’m hopeful we can skirt the threats of large hail and damaging winds from now until after harvest.

Why are today’s farm programs heavily skewered to support cotton, a crop we can’t give away, while wheat, a principle food grain and feed grain the world over, continues to lose planted acreage and production?

For most of my life, I assumed everyone’s dad worked as hard as mine. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized what I witnessed growing up wasn’t something everyone experienced.

Agricultural conditions were unchanged or declined in most of the Federal Reserve Districts, while cost pressures intensified from fuel and fertilizer spikes.

Total U.S. winter wheat production estimates were reduced to its lowest since 1965 as a severe drought continues in the Plains.

Wheat stocks fell on lower production estimates, and corn and soybeans supplies were steady in the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture’s supply and demand estimates report.

The winner of the Star in Agricultural Placement award will be announced during the Wednesday afternoon session of the Illinois FFA State Convention starting at 2 p.m.

The number of acres managed by Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers members increased substantially in 10 years.

With summer just around the corner, Agronomy Days will soon return to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

A demonstration farm dedicated to farmer-focused research designed to answer real-world questions is into its sophomore year.

Once we got going, spring went really quick. We had a window there from mid-April to the end of April where a lot of guys went and then the last 10 days has just been hammer down and get her done.

An overwhelming majority of America’s farmers who responded to a nationwide survey say they cannot afford to purchase enough fertilizer to get them through the year.