A giant investment firm paid a university to study one of its biggest assets — farmland
TIAA-CREF invests heavily in farmland, so it paid a university to research it. Read Part I and Part III of this series. CHAMPAIGN — In 2013, mammoth U.S. investment company TIAA-CREF gave $5 million to the University of Illinois — to study an area of investment where the company has made a, sometimes controversial, name […]
Cover Crops Can Help Slow Climate Change, But Few Farmers Are Planting Them
Amid a push from the Biden administration for U.S. agriculture to help slow climate change, a new study shows farmers in the Corn Belt are dropping the ball on adopting a climate-friendly practice. A mountain of research shows the benefits of planting cover crops — from sequestering carbon from the environment to keeping waterways […]
For Farmland Conservation, It Comes Down To Who Owns It
TOLONO — Lin Warfel puts farmland owners in central Illinois into two categories: Those with a deep connection and desire to preserve their land, and those obsessed with short-term money. The 80-year-old still owns the land that’s been in his family since his great-grandfather arrived in Champaign County in the 1800’s. After farming it […]