Whether you’re a farmer with an expansive operation, a homeowner looking to beautify a corner of your backyard, or someone looking to develop unused land near roadsides, creating pollinator habitat on non-cropland is a simple way to improve both pollinator and environmental health. Private and even commercial landowners across the country are taking the initiative […]
Planting pollinator forage on non-farmed areas enhances the landscape, looks great and can even increase yield. Farmers and landowners have considerable capacity to increase pollinator habitat, not just milkweed for monarchs but other native wildflowers for all pollinators. That is why the Monarch Collaborative encourages farmers to engage in broad conservation practices that protect nectar […]
Farmers utilize stewardship practices for proper pesticide use while protecting crops from insect pests and mites and also protecting pollinators. The BeSure! campaign from Growing Matters, an initiative created to support growers and applicators in protecting bees and other wildlife, provides numerous resources for good stewardship, including the Insect Pollinators and Pesticide Product Stewardship guide. […]
Among the most simple and effective measures farmers and landowners can take to conserve monarch butterfly populations is to follow best practices for mowing. When establishing habitat, or conducting management activities to keep the site healthy, mowing can be an important tool. Once habitat is well-established, mowing or prescribe burning every 3-5 years promotes healthy […]
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, […]