Lifelong Learning. Lifelong Impact.
Put research-based knowledge to work for you.
At home, at work, and in your community — count on Illinois Extension’s reliable and relatable information to help you navigate resilience in all areas of life.
Find local progams
Title
Plan Your Garden
Growing your own produce brings many rewards, and the gardening game is already underway for many gardeners across Illinois! Whether you're starting your own plants from seed or purchasing transplants, it's a good idea to plan your garden to maximize both space and the growing season. Extension has expert tips on planning, planting, growing, and managing a great garden.
Connect. Learn. Grow.
Helping Others Grow
Discover the 50-year Master Gardener legacy and join the mission of community enrichment through the art and science of gardening.
Grow Your Food Business
Learn about the laws, certifications, processes, and practices required to run a home-based cottage food operation safely and legally in Illinois.
Wildlife is Everywhere
Learn how to support Illinois wildlife and navigate everyday wildlife encounters with research-based information you can trust.
Title
Avian Flu Updates
The nationwide spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, in the past few months has many concerned about livestock, pets, wildlife, food safety, and public health. HPAI is an extremely contagious disease that can kill entire poultry flocks in days. The H5N1 strain spreads from wild to domestic birds as well as mammals, including dairy cattle, wild carnivores, and pets, raising concerns about how the virus might be mutating.
Title
A Strategic Path for Extension Impact
Throughout 2023 and early 2024, Illinois Extension, in partnership with Huron Consulting Group, engaged in a comprehensive planning process to refine and refresh its core priorities, goals, and paths to success through internal and external stakeholder surveys, focus groups, and listening sessions statewide. The research yielded vital findings around Extension’s engagement, services, partnerships, and impact and identified shifting trends, demographics, and needs that will impact Illinois residents.
At Extension, water resources work when we work with them
Sometimes water is only a drizzle or a trickle, while other times it pours and floods, but it is always there in the background, a steady and vital resource for all our lives. A core University of Illinois Extension program area — natural resources,…
Explore sustainable farming through high tunnel production and integrated pest management
SIMPSON, Ill. – More Illinois specialty crop growers are planting in high tunnels to extend their growing season, increase crop diversity, achieve higher yields, and improve quality. Learn about high tunnel production and how research studies on biological insect control are benefiting both the…
Climate change cuts global crop yields, even when farmers adapt
URBANA, Ill. — The global food system faces growing risks from climate change, even as farmers seek to adapt, according to a June 18 study in Nature.
In contrast to previous studies suggesting that warming could increase global food production, the researchers estimate that…
Level Up with 4-H
OpenSciEd Information Session for Administrators
4-H Vet Science Workshop: Dixon
Science Teacher PL - Making Sense of Sensemaking