Seed treatments, such as neonicotinoids, have been used by farmers for many years to help control early season insect pests and ensure a better crop. While seed treatments provide many benefits, their use poses a potential risk to nearby pollinators and other beneficial insects because of seed dust drifting from the site of planting. The […]
Populations of the monarch butterfly remain low. The population east of the Rocky Mountains, which overwinters in Mexico, fell 53 percent from the previous year’s count. Those west of the Rockies, which overwinter in California, tallied in near last year’s record low just over 29,000 individuals. Habitat loss, particularly the loss of milkweed plants, which […]
While the decision of whether the monarch butterfly should be listed as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act will not occur until this upcoming December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is currently gathering the information they need on nationwide conservation efforts to aid in their decision-making. To accomplish this, […]
The February 28 deadline for open enrollment in the USDA Farm Service Agency Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is fast approaching in a year that will feature one of the largest program acreages ever offered to landowners in the United States. This post details specific ways farmers and landowners can enroll in certain programs that will […]
Strengthening monarch conservation in urban areas will be the topic of discussion in the next installment of the Monarch Conservation Webinar Series, a project hosted by the Monarch Joint Venture and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service that provides education on monarch biology, monitoring, and conservation. Details for the upcoming webinar, including how to register, […]
Monarch butterflies face many challenges that have contributed to a significant decline in their population over the last two decades. More breeding habitat and food resources, including milkweed and nectar sources, across the migration route will help monarch populations recover. HabiTally is a new app hosted by Iowa State University (ISU) that enables farmers, ranchers, […]
The Monarch Joint Venture has partnered with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to host a series of webinars on monarch biology, monitoring, and conservation. The most recent webinar was entitled the Trials and Triumphs of Establishing Pollinator Habitat, and featured the real-world experiences of farmers establishing habitat adjacent to their working land. Presenters of […]
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced May 24 that it has extended the deadline to determine whether the monarch butterfly warrants federal protection under the Endangered Species Act to December 15, 2020.