East Central Reporter

Rep. Adam Niemerg thanked researchers for their work with the CornBox, saying, "Illinois researchers are using the CornBox to do experiments on response to nitrogen fertilizer in corn and connecting the living plants with sensors and imaging." He made this statement in an Aug. 2 Facebook post.

"Illinois researchers are using the CornBox to do experiments on response to nitrogen fertilizer in corn and connecting the living plants with sensors and imaging," said Adam M Niemerg, State Representative for 102nd District (R), according to Facebook. "Thank you for your efforts to improve our crops and support the farming industry!"

In his Facebook post, Niemerg shared a news article from Illinois Farmer Today, explaining what Illinois researchers at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign are using the CornBox, which is a four-acre test site with two acres of corn and two acres of soybeans. This summer, five graduate students at Illinois and a graduate student and postdoctoral scientist at Cornell University have had experiments there.

Screenshot of Rep. Adam NIemerg's Aug. 2 Facebook post | State Representative Adam Niemerg Facebook page

According to Illinois Farmer Today, one of those projects was from Matthew Runyon, who is researching leaf area mutations and plant response to different planting conditions. The plants have nitrogen sensors, and his research showed that corn plants getting lower amounts of nitrogen would send it to the corn ear instead of the leaves.

Crop sciences professor Steven Moose told Illinois Farmer Today that there are two major goals for what’s happening in the CornBox right now: understanding the genetic basis for how corn yields respond to nitrogen supply and applying that understanding to optimizing nitrogen inputs for sustainable corn yields.

The tour of the CornBox happened on July 22. The calendar listing for the event explained that "The CornBox is UIUC’s version of a sandbox to test innovations for digital agriculture in a live corn field. Come see research in action that combines advances in genetics, sensors, and computing to increase the sustainability of future corn production." Walking tours started at 1 p.m. on July 22 at the South Farm and included presentations on how biological advances, sensors, and computing are being evaluated in the CornBox.

Niemerg was first elected in 2020. He calls himself a "fiscal conservative focused on reducing taxes and fighting for limited government and pension reform," according to his official biography. He is a senior claims adjuster with Country Financial. Niemerg has a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Illinois University.