By its own definition, Extension is dedicated to helping people find solutions to life’s challenges.

Although the agricultural landscape in Illinois has changed immensely over the past century, today’s Extension service still consists of a statewide network of educators, specialists, faculty experts and staff that work to provide relevant educational materials and programs, data-driven recommendations and farmer-focused research.

While many are aware of the previous decades’ cutbacks to Extension and statewide agricultural research, Extension today has a renewed emphasis on restoring farmer-focused and farmer-driven research. The university has shown a revitalized recognition of the value in these researchers and their work, leading to increased investment in support of Illinois farmers.

Thanks to advocacy from Illinois farmers and others, Extension has hired four faculty members, four statewide specialists and several multicounty educators focused on providing support to the state’s row-crop farmers.

Extension’s hub-and-spoke system blankets the state. With offices in nearly every county, Extension provides local representatives right where you are.

University agricultural research hubs also sit across the state, enabling researchers to interact and brainstorm with local farmers to better inform agricultural practices being tested across the range of climates, soil types and topography. Research that is relevant to farmers must be informed by farmers.

Statewide Research and Farm Facilities

Crop Sciences Research and Education Center

• Location: Just south of the University of Illinois’ campus in Urbana
• Established in 1876, the Crop Sciences Research and Education Center includes the famed Morrow Plots. It’s the oldest continuous agricultural research field in the country. Currently being added are Alma Mater Plots – 64 individually tile-drained plots slightly less than an acre in size. The tile drains contain sample ports to allow for better tracking of nutrient loss, improving recommendations for efficient fertilizer and input management.
• Size: 1,500 acres
• Current Research: Agronomic evaluation of seed, fertilizer and other inputs; soil fertility and management; integrated management of weeds, diseases, insects and other pests; crop breeding and evaluation.

Plant Clinic

• Location: Urbana (Turner Hall)
• Since 1976, the Plant Clinic has provided plant and insect identification, nematode assays, disease, insect, weed and chemical injury diagnosis, and has helped with nutrient-related issues. It is instrumental in helping researchers track and understand the pest species occurrence and spread as well as their evolution of resistance.

I-FARM: Farm of the Future

• Location: Urbana
• Testing and integrating cutting-edge technologies into agricultural production systems to help farmers improve profitability while also minimizing environmental impact.
• Size: 120 acres
• Current Research: Autonomous and semiautonomous cover crop planting, mechanical weeding, precision nutrient and pest management. Remote sensing and artificial intelligence to monitor animal, crop and soil health and provide information for improved management. Mobile networks to allow for improved connectivity and communication for farm technologies.

Orr Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center

• Location: Perry
• Size: 398 acres
• Current Research: Cover crops on prevented planting acres, cover crops in integrated row crop and cattle systems, integrating crop land to grazing, hay and forage, livestock.

Northwestern Illinois Ag Research and Demo Center

• Location: Monmouth
• Size: 320 acres
• Current Research: Soil fertility and management, agronomy of crop production, integrated management of weeds, diseases, insects and other pests, cover crops.

Dudley Smith Initiative Farm

• Location: Pana
• Size: 228 acres
• Current Research: Water quality and nutrient management, nitrogen loss reduction, drainage water recycling, cover crops, rotational grazing, invasive plants and interstate trade.

Ewing Demonstration Center

• Location: Ewing
• Home to long-term research plots since 1915 to better understand the effects of lime, phosphorus and potassium on crop productivity and soil properties in southern Illinois soils. Also home to one of the oldest continuously cropped no-till research plots since 1969.
• Size: 100 acres
• Current Research: Soil fertility and management, agronomy of crop production, cover crops, no-till management, integrated management of weeds, diseases, insects and other pests.

Dixon Springs Agricultural Center

• Location: Simpson
• Largest experiment station of its kind east of the Mississippi River.
• Size: 5,100 acres
• Current Research: Invasive species, integrated pest management, forages, livestock, specialty crops, forestry.

Research Highlights

In addition to trials conducted at University of Illinois farms, researchers work with farmers, landowners and community colleges to conduct research across the diversity of Illinois soils and growing environments. Here is a deeper dive into just a few of the ongoing row-crop research projects across the state:

Cropping System Management Recommendations

Giovani Preza Fontes is an Assistant Professor and Extension Agronomist who joined the team following the retirement of Emerson Nafziger, who served as an Extension Agronomist for over 30 years. Preza Fontes is particularly interested in enhancing crop productivity while minimizing environmental impacts through evaluation of conservation cropping practices such as 4R nutrient management, cover cropping and conservation tillage. Among other projects, Preza Fontes is ramping up statewide planting date and seeding rate trials. With environments and genetics always shifting, it’s important to conduct these continuously.

Soil Fertility Recommendations

John Jones is an Assistant Professor and Extension Soil Fertility Specialist who joined the university less than a year ago but is already building his research program. Jones is working closely with his colleague, Dr. Andrew Margenot, and the ag industry to update soil fertility thresholds and recommendations for Illinois farmers through a series of trials at university research centers and on private farms.

Additionally, Jones is continuing the Maximum Return To Nitrogen (MRTN) project started by Nafziger, with plans to deliver more site-specific recommendations for nitrogen management. Jones hopes to develop tools similar to the MRTN Calculator for use with phosphorus and potassium fertilizer inputs so that farmers can make decisions based on local, relevant on-farm yield data and current economic factors, such as fertilizer costs and grain prices.

Data Intensive Farm Management

Leading the Data Intensive Farm Management (DIFM) team, David Bullock believes his research will change agronomic strategies and help farmers make more informed decisions leading to more profitable acres. Bullock and the DIFM team work with farmers using precision agriculture technology to conduct their own on-farm “checkerboard” trials.

Through these trials, farmers and researchers collect and analyze data on how crop yields respond to factors such as input rates, field characteristics and weather to better inform their future management decisions. The DIFM project includes development of software that farmers and consultants can use to design and analyze data from their on-farm experiments.

Cover Crop Management Recommendations

Cover crop system research trials continue to advance as well. One such multi-year, multilocation trial funded by the Illinois Soybean Association is focused on evaluating cereal rye planting date, seeding rate and termination timing and the effects of these factors on cereal rye biomass and soybean production.

Although it is known that cover crops can help suppress weeds and reduce erosion and nutrient losses from fields, excessive above-ground cover crop biomass present during soybean planting and establishment can have negative effects on crop growth and final yields.

The research team, led by Extension’s Nathan Johanning, is hopeful this research will provide better recommendations that allow farmers using cover crops to manage their input costs (seed) and spring biomass levels to maximize the benefits of cover crops while minimizing interference with crop growth and yields. The end goal is to take some of the guesswork out of cover crop use, helping farmers figure out how to integrate cover crops at the lowest risk possible.

To tap into the Extension network, visit: https://extension.illinois.edu.

If you are interested in conducting research on your farm, email tbecker2@illinois.edu.