Plan to attend U of I Agronomy Day 2014

Apr 29, 2014

URBANA, Ill. – Mark your calendars for an opportunity to discover the latest findings in crop sciences during the 58th annual Agronomy Day at the University of Illinois on August 14.

"From the school’s beginnings, agronomic research has always been conducted on or near the University of Illinois," said Bob Dunker, agronomist and superintendent of the Crop Sciences Research and Education Center and chairperson for Agronomy Day. “The first Agronomy Day held in 1957 had the same objective as the one you will attend this year—to communicate research results that benefit our constituents.”

More than 1,000 visitors are expected to attend Agronomy Day at the Crop Sciences Research and Education Center on the Urbana campus, located south of the U of I's main Urbana-Champaign campus off St. Mary's Road on South Wright Street Extended. Researchers will discuss a variety of topics from soil fertility to insect management, crop production, weed control, corn and soybean genetics, plant diseases, farm economics, and agricultural engineering.

Agronomy Day begins at 7 a.m. Field tours depart from the St. Mary's location, making stops at research plots and repeating every half-hour until noon. Lunch is available for a nominal charge. The exhibition tent will feature exhibits by ACES programs, commercial vendors, research posters, and student clubs.

Source: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.