WHAT WE DO + WHY IT MATTERS

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL, CONSUMER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES DISCOVER

Research within the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences impacts all our lives. With expertise in agriculture and the environment, family and communities, and health and wellness, our reach is both broad and deep. Uniting us is a reliance on the latest innovations in data and technology, as well as a deep commitment to solving real-world problems affecting Central Illinois, the United States, and the globe.

Here, we highlight a fraction of our world-class research in the area of agriculture and the environment, showcasing our commitments to solving hunger across the globe, conserving wildlife, and reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture.

A philanthropic project from the College of ACES is bringing the milkproducing power of Holsteins together with the heat tolerance of cattle indigenous to tropical climates. Using traditional breeding techniques along with artificial insemination, the project promises to deliver tropicaladapted cattle capable of producing 10 times the milk of indigenous breeds. Although similar hybrid breeds are common in Brazil, they can’t be exported to other countries due to endemic diseases. The high health status of the U.S. herd, along with access to the world’s best Holstein genetics, set the Illinois project apart. Better still, the researchers are simply giving the embryos away to developing countries, with the goal of establishing local herds and boosting food security for generations. Illinois-bred cows can produce 10x the milk of indigenous breeds in tropical climates.

Before the Green Revolution, corn plants took advantage of partnerships with soil microbes to meet their nitrogen needs. But 40 years of corn breeding during a period of sharply increasing synthetic fertilizer application had some unintended outcomes, according to new research from ACES scientists. Not only did corn lose the ability to recruit “good” microbes – the ones that help plants acquire nitrogen without fertilizers – the crop now actively enlists “bad” microbes that contribute to nitrogen loss. The researchers hope to “rewild” the corn microbiome, bringing genes from ancient corn relatives into the modern crop to help restore partnerships with good soil microbes. If successful, they could reduce farmers’ reliance on synthetic fertilizers, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and avoid nutrient pollution in waterways. Through 40 years of breeding, corn left nitrogen-acquiring microbes behind.