Aerial and satellite imagery, combined with machine learning, could give large-scale soil carbon readings as robust as soil sampling.

New path to monitor soil carbon

An eye in the sky and machine-learning methods could be as accurate as old-fashioned soil testing

Just how much carbon is in the soil? That’s a tough question to answer at large spatial scales, but understanding soil organic carbon at regional, national or global scales could help scientists predict overall soil health, crop productivity and even worldwide carbon cycles. Classically, researchers collect soil samples in the field and haul them back

Harrington Seed Destructors are widely used in Australia.

Destructor’s weed escapes still fail to germinate

Microscopic abrasions allow microbes to infect embryonic weeds

Many weed seeds that appear undamaged after passing through a Harrington Seed Destructor still fail to germinate, say researchers at the University of Illinois. Developed and widely used in Australia, the HSD is mounted on the back of a combine and crushes weed seeds to prevent them from germinating. A University of Illinois release says


The researchers started with a single seed of Amaranthus hypochondriacus, their test plant, and grew generations of the plant to produce the seeds they needed for their experiments.

New mutations for herbicide resistance rare

Most resistance seems to come from pre-existing genetic conditions

After exposing more than 70 million seeds to a soil-based herbicide, researchers at the University of Illinois were not able to find a single herbicide-resistant mutant. Though preliminary, the findings suggest that the mutation rate in amaranth is very low, and that low-level herbicide application contributes little — if anything — to the onset of

Editorial: The Trump discount

Editorial: The Trump discount

If you follow markets, especially if you grow soybeans, you’ll know about the price debacle resulting from President Trump’s decision to start a trade war with China. In retaliation for his duty on manufactured goods, China slapped a 25 per cent tariff on U.S. soybeans. That’s caused U.S. futures to plummet to a 10-year low

A farmer checks his soybean crop in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.

The ‘breadbasket’ of the tropics?

Brazil’s tropical grain growers are upending the conventional wisdom on grain production

One of your major grain-growing competitors has been turning the world on its ear by producing grain in a tropical locale. Historically the tropics have been among the poorest regions, with the lowest agriculture productivity and highest incidents of malnutrition. It wasn’t until the late-1990s the tropics began to emerge as a possible region for


This unassuming vine from Australia has given soybean yields a boost, researchers say.   PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

Wild vine boosts soybean yield

Researchers were looking for resistance genes and found a yield boost too

A distant relative to soybean that’s native to Australia could soon lead to a big jump in soybean yields. The perennial vine, known as woolly glycine, or scientifically as Glycine tomentella, is a genetic resource that was part of a new study from researchers at the University of Illinois. “We saw yield increases of 3.5

Weanling pigs can thrive on plant-based protein diets, 
a recent study shows.

Soy protein concentrate a replacement in piglet diets

It’s a functional — and less expensive — alternative to 
animal protein sources

Animal nutritionists have long known that plant-based protein sources are less expensive for swine feed rations. But until recently they’ve worried over some anti-nutritional factors that can negatively affect gut health and growth performance in weanling pigs. Recent research from the University of Illinois has shown that soy protein concentrate (SPC) may be partly or

Herbicide-resistant Palmer amaranth can devastate crop yields.

Palmer amaranth resistance more complex

Two new mechanisms for herbicide resistance 
have been found in Palmer amaranth

Scientists are continuing to discover just what a difficult foe the weed Palmer amaranth can be. It can cause yield losses as high as 80 per cent for soybean growers and has already developed resistance to six classes of herbicide since its discovery in North America 100 years ago. It’s recently been found in North


Rice flour may be contributing to higher levels of toxic metals 
in gluten-free diets.

Gluten-free diet may increase risk of toxic metal exposure

A new study finds wheat substitutes can bioaccumulate things 
like arsenic and mercury

Turns out those gluten-free eaters may be chowing down some unintended consequences. A new study from the University of Illinois has found consuming a gluten-free diet may increase exposure to arsenic and mercury — toxic metals that can lead to cardiovascular disease, cancer and neurological effects, according to a report in the journal Epidemiology. Gluten-free

Research at the University of Illinois simulates future atmospheric conditions to determine their effects on plants. Here, Professor Andrew Leakey (r), works with research assistants Lindsey Heady and David Marshak.

Study says CO2 benefit of global warming overestimated

While higher CO2 levels can mean greater growth it appears they also set plants up to be more susceptible to drought losses

An eight-year study suggests talk of higher yields under a global warming scenario may be overly optimistic. University of Illinois researchers grew soybeans in a carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere and they say their findings are worrisome. Under ideal growing conditions higher CO2 will boost plant growth, but an article in the journal Nature Plants suggests drought,