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Fermenting legume pulses boosts their antidiabetic, antioxidant properties
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Food scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign identified the optimal fermentation conditions for pulses ― the dried edible seeds of legumes ― that increased their antioxidant and antidiabetic properties and their soluble protein content. Using the bacteria Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v as the microorganism, the team fermented pulses obtained from varying concentrations […]
Report: ‘Future-proofing’ crops will require urgent, consistent effort
Professor Stephen Long describes research efforts to “future-proof” the crops that are essential to feeding a hungry world in a changing climate.
New approach makes AI adaptable for computer vision in crop breeding
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists developed a machine-learning tool that can teach itself, with minimal external guidance, to differentiate between aerial images of flowering and nonflowering grasses — an advance that will greatly increase the pace of agricultural field research, they say. The work was conducted using images of thousands of varieties of Miscanthus grasses, each […]
What effect will tariffs have on consumers, farmers?
Champaign, Ill. — Jonathan W. Coppess is the the Leonard and Lila Gardner Illinois Farm Bureau Family of Companies Endowed Associate Professor in Agricultural Policy at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Coppess is the author of “Between Soil and Society: Legislative History and Political Development of […]
How do we address the problem of PFAS in sewage sludge?
Communities and federal agencies are waking up to the dangers of “forever chemicals” in wastewater treatment sludge, which is often sprayed on farm fields as fertilizer. In mid-January, the federal Environmental Protection Agency warned that this practice endangers human health. A month later, Johnson County in northeast Texas declared a state of emergency over the […]
Study: ‘Sustainable intensification’ on the farm reduces soil nitrate losses, maintains crop yields
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A nine-year study comparing a typical two-year corn and soybean rotation with a more intensive three-year rotation involving corn, cereal rye, soybean and winter wheat found that the three-year system can dramatically reduce nitrogen — an important crop nutrient — in farm runoff without compromising yield. The new findings are detailed in […]
New study evaluates public policy preferences for limiting children’s access to energy drinks
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Energy drinks are becoming an increasingly important topic in public health, nutrition and food policy, with global sales more than doubling from 2018-2023 and product selection expanding by 20% since 2021. Just as sales of the drinks have surged, so has their caffeine content, elevating concerns about childhood energy drink consumption. A […]
How are migrating wild birds affected by H5N1 infection in the U.S.?
Each spring, roughly 3.5 billion wild birds migrate from their warm winter havens to their breeding grounds across North America, eating insects, distributing plant seeds and providing a variety of other ecosystem services to stopping sites along the way. Some also carry diseases like avian influenza, a worry for agricultural, environmental and public health authorities. […]
Dating is not broken, but the trajectories of relationships have changed
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — According to some popular culture writers and online posts by discouraged singles lamenting their inability to find romantic partners, dating is “broken,” fractured by the social isolation created by technology, pandemic lockdowns and potential partners’ unrealistic expectations. Yet two studies of college students conducted a decade apart found that their ideas about […]
Study: Good nutrition boosts honey bee resilience against pesticides, viruses
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign tackled a thorny problem: How do nutritional stress, viral infections and exposure to pesticides together influence honey bee survival? By looking at all three stressors together, the scientists found that good nutrition enhances honey bee resilience against the other threats.
Study tracks decades of extreme heat, cold in Upper Midwest
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers analyzed meteorological data from nine Upper Midwest states from 1979-2021, tracking trends in extreme heat and cold over every 4-kilometer square of that territory. They found striking regional differences in the extremes. Many parts of the Upper Midwest experienced significant upticks in the number of extreme heat days over the 40 […]
Study identifies best bioenergy crops for sustainable aviation fuels by U.S. region, policy goals
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers analyzed the financial and environmental costs and benefits of four biofuels crops used to produce sustainable aviation fuels in the U.S. They found that each feedstock — corn stover, energy sorghum, miscanthus or switchgrass — performed best in a specific region of the rainfed United States. Their study will help growers […]