cropCENTRAL | Field Crop Production Resources

Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed an innovative artificial intelligence method designed to mine massive amounts of drone-captured field data, revealing hidden, highly heritable genetic traits in crops.
For decades, agriculture has relied on visual cues and simple calculations to gauge plant health. The widely used Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), for example, uses just two bands of light reflectance to mathematically determine the greenness of a field. Now, an interdisciplinary team is pushing beyond these traditional boundaries.…

We had a warm and wet end to March and start to April across the prairie state. Average temperatures this week ranged from the high 40s in northern Illinois to the high 50s in southern Illinois, between 4 and 10 degrees above normal.
by Trent Ford, State Climatologist
ISWS PRI University of Illinois
Some of the more impressive high temperatures this week included 93 degrees in Jacksonville and 88 in Champaign. March ended around 6 degrees warmer than normal statewide,…

New research from the University of Illinois Herbicide Evaluation Group indicates that while certain preemergence herbicides can cause early-season damage to early-planted soybeans, the crop’s yield is generally unaffected as long as adequate stand counts are maintained.
Under the direction of Extension Weed Scientist Aaron Hager, U of I Research Specialist Logan Miller has been investigating potential issues with herbicide premixes and pre-plant herbicides used on early-planted soybeans. The study evaluated soybeans planted at early dates,…

How is the ongoing conflict in Iran impacting global agriculture? In this farmdoc daily webinar, University of Illinois agricultural economists Nick Paulson and Gary Schnitkey are joined by industry experts to break down the recent spikes in fertilizer and fuel prices.
The panel discusses the immediate effects on the 2026 crop year, the critical differences between this market shock and the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict, and what decreased input affordability means for farmer profitability heading into 2027.…