Jeannine Otto

AMBOY, Ill. — A garden tool that will be making an appearance in many yards and gardens can also help prevent combine fires.

Low rainfall levels throughout the Midwest in the late summer and early autumn have caused water levels on the upper and lower Mississippi, as well as the Illinois, Missouri and Ohio rivers, to drop.

MONTICELLO, Ill. — As the cropping year winds down in his part of Illinois, Eric Miller looked back on his two decades of farming in the central part of the state with gratitude.

DU QUOIN, Ill. — As a veteran, Jerry Costello II recognizes the trait in other veterans that prompted him to enlist in the U.S. Army.

One of the obvious signs of a healthy, hardy corn crop can also present major headaches for those working in it.

Chef Bryan Flower hurries toward one of the raised “free-to-pick” vegetable, flower and herb beds that flank Neptune North residence and dining hall on the Northern Illinois University campus in DeKalb.

Cabbages are not exactly the typical big university landscaping, but at Northern Illinois University, cabbages — and other vegetables, fruits and herbs — are the first step in what could be a food revolution.

While the extended dry, warm fall has made harvest of corn and soybeans smoother for farmers, it also means farmers might have to put the brakes on when it comes to fall fertilizer applications.

If you’re waiting for water, then the weather outlook headed into the first weeks of November will be good news. But if you’re ready to break out the cold weather gear, you may have to wait a while.

Voters chose to send Donald Trump, who served his first term as U.S. president from 2016 to 2020, back to the White House in the Nov. 5 national election.