Just a couple of miles from the main campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, researchers are building something remarkable. Sixty-four one-acre plots are taking shape on a new research farm — each one individually drained with underground pipes called tiles, so scientists can measure exactly how water moves through the soil. It's the largest experiment of its kind anywhere in the world.
The project is called the Alma Mater Plots, and it's designed to carry forward a storied tradition. The university's existing Morrow Plots are celebrating their 150th anniversary in 2026, making them the second-oldest continuously running farm experiment on Earth. For a century and a half, scientists have been growing different crops and testing different methods to figure out what works best for Illinois soil.
Now, researchers want the next generation of discoveries to come straight from farmers' needs.
Professor Andrew Margenot leads the project. He spent years doing agricultural research in eastern Africa and South America, where he learned to start every project by listening.
"In my opinion, you just do better science if you listen to the people who work the land," Margenot said.
Over the past year, Margenot and his team have traveled across Illinois, holding more than a dozen focus groups with over 140 farmers. They're still gathering input and plan to keep collecting feedback through the end of 2026. The experiment's treatments haven't been locked in yet — because the researchers want farmers to help decide what questions matter most.
Sanjay Sofat, who works on environmental policy for the Illinois Farm Bureau, sits on the project's advisory board. He says there's often a disconnect between what scientists suggest and what farmers can actually do.
"There's a huge disconnect around the realities of farming. People make comments like, 'Hey, farmers should do XYZ,' without really understanding what it entails," Sofat said. "By designing this experiment based on farmers' input, we hope farmers will feel more comfortable adopting practices that benefit the land and their bottom lines."
The team is exploring themes like water quality, soil health, regenerative practices, and farm profits. The individually monitored tiles let researchers track water quality in real time — a first for an experiment this large. Margenot sees huge untapped potential in how farmers manage water through drainage systems.
"If we are going to farm some of the wettest soils in the country, we need tile," he said. "But we are very passive about tile. Are there trade-offs? Absolutely. Let's optimize those trade-offs."
With room to eventually expand to 75 or more plots, the Alma Mater Plots could offer more reliable answers than a single small field ever could. The goal is practical: give farmers evidence they can trust, rooted in real Illinois conditions. As Margenot put it, the whole point is to bring farmers onto campus again — just as the Morrow Plots did 150 years ago — and help the next generation of research grow from the ground up.