Illinois is composed of some of the most fertile soils in the world, ranking third in the nation for its total acreage of prime farmland. PRI scientists study issues vital to the agricultural industry in Illinois and beyond, providing data and tools that benefit farmers while also addressing environmental challenges that support the broader community.
Weather and Climate
Illinois’ variable climate is ideal for growing major crops. Farmers rely on Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford as the primary source for their climate information and services. The State Climatologist’s website features current weather conditions, historical climate information, frost dates and plant growing conditions, plant hardiness zones, and information on drought and tornadoes in Illinois.
Drought in Illinois typically affects plants and crops first as water is depleted from the soil, and then water resources. The State Climatologist website shows the current drought status using data from the U.S. Drought Monitor. Ford tracks drought conditions as they emerge and throughout the drought, keeping farmers informed. Read more about drought.
Soils
Information on soil conditions essential for farmers before, during, and after the growing season is available free through the Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring (WARM) program at ISWS. WARM’s Illinois Climate Network (ICN) collects data on soil moisture and temperature as well as weather conditions at 19 stations across the state. Soil temperatures are available hourly for specific soil depths. Daily minimum and maximum temperatures are also provided. Other WARM networks monitor suspended sediment transport in the state’s rivers and streams as well as water levels for reservoirs and shallow groundwater.
The monthly Illinois Water & Climate Summary reports on current and trending water and weather conditions in Illinois and their impacts on other water resources.
WARM also provides a calculator for crop growing degree days.
Pests
WARM offers two agricultural insect pest degree day calculators: one for commodity crop growers and one for specialty crop growers. The pest degree day tool can be used to track the development of insect pests using data from the ICN.
The local seven-day forecast, based on National Weather Service information, is used so farmers know what to expect and to zero in on the potential progression of insect life stages while also determining when crops will be the most vulnerable. Seasonal maps of the Japanese beetle, brown marmorated stinkbug, and corn flea beetle are available on the WARM website.
Nutrient and Sediment Monitoring
Reducing nutrient runoff
ISWS scientists monitor several watersheds across Illinois to help the state evaluate the effectiveness of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), which aims to reduce the amount of nutrients and sediment entering Illinois’ rivers from agricultural lands. Scientists have undertaken several projects that focused on evaluating the impact of conservation practices in reducing pollutants from various sources. Learn more about our watershed monitoring efforts for CREP.
Computer modeling has helped identify alternative placements of agricultural best management practices within the watershed, on which sound watershed management plans can be developed to reduce sediment and nutrient runoff. Some of the practices included farm-level nutrient management, constructed wetlands, and filter strips to improve downstream water quality. Researchers have also studied the effectiveness of winter cover crops in reducing nitrate pollution, with promising results.
Monitoring sediment transport
The Benchmark Sediment Monitoring Program, established in the 1980s, is designed to monitor the amount of sediment from cropland that enters rivers and streams.
Every week, a citizen observer from each of the 15 sediment monitoring network stations navigates bridges to take a water sample of suspended sediment, which is sediment that is floating in water between the surface and above the muddy current at the stream bottom.
Suspended sediment concentration data are used to compute sediment loads using streamflow data from U.S. Geological Survey gaging stations where ISWS Benchmark Sediment Monitoring Network stations are co-located. The greatest long-term sediment yields are mostly concentrated in the western portion of Illinois, along the Mississippi River. ISWS is combining information from other research databases and performing further analysis to detect trends between years and seasons.