Illinois Public Media News is monitoring flooding on Tuesday. The National Weather Service in Central Illinois says a complex of strong thunderstorms is tracking southeast across the region, producing strong wind gusts and dumping several inches of rainfall. We will update this post with the latest forecast information. Updated at 11:15 am: WAND-TV reports several
URBANA – Meteorologists are warning that dangerous heat will return to Central Illinois this week. The National Weather Service in Central Illinois says daily afternoon highs will be in the 90s by midweek. Combined with high humidity, the heat index, or what it will feel like outside, will range from 100 to 110 degrees. Forecasters
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — If you take an aerial view of Jason Lay’s farm in mid-April, it would look like a green dot amid a sea of brown. That’s because while most farmers around him in Bloomington, Illinois, leave their land fallow in between harvesting and planting corn and soybeans, Jason plants cereal rye — a
URBANA – Four Republican candidates hoping to represent the 13th Congressional district faced off on Thursday night. They echoed similar concerns about the Biden presidency and reflected on an unrecognizable America, a “Twilight Zone,” as Terry Martin, a former political journalist, remarked. Illinois Public Media sponsored the debate ahead of the June 28th primary. Jesse
https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s60/audio/2022/05/kernzawebaudio.mp3 The perennial grain can produce an annual crop even as it stays in the ground for up to four years. Its deep root system helps pull carbon out of the air and makes it more resistant to floods and drought. This story was produced in partnership with the Food & Environment Reporting Network Carmen
This story was produced in partnership with the Food & Environment Reporting Network Climate change is not a big concern for Lin Warfel. Sure, he’s noticed the increasing rainfall over the 60 odd years he’s been farming corn and soybeans in central Illinois — especially when ponds form in his soybean fields. But he’s pretty
Illinois Public Media News is monitoring a threat of severe storms on Wednesday that is forecasted by the National Weather Service in Central Illinois and other meteorologists. Tornadoes, high winds, and large hail are possible in East Central Illinois. We will update this post with the latest forecast information. Updated Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. Forecasters
Water is critical to America’s meat habit. Cows, pigs and chickens drink it. Farmers clean barns and cool animals with it. Meatpackers sanitize plants and wash their product with it. But, most importantly, water grows the crops needed to feed the millions of animals raised and slaughtered each year that end up on Americans’ tables.
Congress passed the Renewable Fuel Standard in 2005, mandating a certain amount of renewable fuel – namely corn ethanol – be mixed in with traditional gasoline. The goal was to minimize emissions and the country’s dependence on foreign fossil fuels. Instead, the policy caused a chain reaction of events that has likely led to even
Vertical farms stack rows of plants on top of each other. Those indoor farms control the lighting, water and temperature to create ideal conditions to grow fresh produce year-round close to customers. But the industry relies on artificial lighting and has a large carbon footprint. AMES, Ia. — People who subscribe to the Ames, Iowa,
URBANA – If you felt like December’s weather was mild – you’re right. According to provisional data, December 2021 was the fifth warmest December on record. The average statewide temperature was 39.4 degrees Fahrenheit – more than nine degrees above average. It was the warmest December on record in Carbondale, the third warmest in St.
Updated Saturday at 10:45 p.m. SHELBY COUNTY – On Saturday, meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Central Illinois said an EF-2 tornado caused destruction in Shelby, Moultrie and Coles counties. So far, no injuries have been reported. According to the NWS, EF-2 tornadoes have winds of 111 to 135 miles per hour. They cause
Updated Saturday at 12:35 a.m. URBANA – Meteorologists issued several tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings on Friday evening. An approaching cold front and warm moist air clashed, spawning severe weather in Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky late Friday. There are early reports of damage in the Illinois towns of Windsor and Gays in Moultrie County
MORTON — The great pumpkin shortage of 2021 is turning out to be as real as Linus’ Great Pumpkin. Neither ever showed. Instead, despite some national headlines about a pumpkin shortage this year, Midwestern farmers say there’s nothing to worry about. “God granted us quite a bounty this year,” says John Ackerman, who grows pumpkins
GIBSON CITY – In August, nine inches of rain dumped on one of Randy Aberle’s fields of corn and soybeans near Gibson City, Illinois. “We had some areas in those fields that the water was four feet deep,” he says. Luckily, he says, those fields have enough slope that the water drained off within a