Pollinating insects are an essential component in global food production. Approximately one-third of all food is made possible by insect pollination. In addition, pollinators are key to the reproduction of 75% of the world’s flowering plants that provide food for wildlife, clean our air, and clean our water. Pollinators impact everyone! Beginning in 2008, the Farm Bill included language that makes pollinators and their habitat a priority for every USDA land manager and conservationist.

Looking for opportunities to integrate pollinator habitat in your farm or ranch operation? Check out these resources:

Farming for Pollinators

Conserving natural habitat surrounding crop fields can benefit farmers by attracting beneficial insects that are natural enemies (predators and parasitoids) of crop pests. In west central Nebraska, UNL is researching insect predators of western bean cutworm eggs and larvae. Primary predators include pink spotted lady beetles, green lacewings, and minute pirate bugs. A field study found high-diversity pivot corners (i.e. Corners for Wildlife habitat projects) had higher predation rates at the edges and interior of crop fields compared to conventional lower-diversity corners planted to corn or winter wheat. While beneficial insects alone may not solve crop pest problems, they can be a valuable part of an Integrated Pest Management system.

For more information see Habitat Planning for Beneficial Insects.

More is Better: When designing great pollinator habitat, make sure to include as many different species in your mixture as possible. That way, you’re more likely to have something flowering throughout the year. A good rule of thumb is to use 30 or more different species in your pollinator mixture.
Plan For The Entire Year: Great pollinator habitat needs to include species that are flowering from early spring all the way through late fall. A mixture that doesn’t plan for the entire year (April to October) or include flowers of different colors, sizes and shapes will not be meeting the habitat needs for pollinator success.
Ask The Experts: Great Pollinator Habitat = Great Pheasant and Quail Habitat. Your local wildlife biologist can provide great suggestions on what species do well in your area and for your soil type. PF and QF wildlife biologists are ready and willing to help you out…..contact one today for help providing the seed and designing your pollinator habitat project.

Great pollinator habitat is great pheasant habitat!

Monarch Conservation

Good monarch habitat and good pheasant habitat have significant overlap. Monarchs need milkweed as a host plant for their larvae. Milkweed and nectaring wildflowers also attract the insects. When you consider a pheasant chick’s diet is 90% insects, it’s clear that quality pollinator habitat has great potential to benefit pheasants.

Although the monarch itself is not in danger of extinction, the North American migration is considered an endangered biological phenomenon due to the threats to the monarch’s habitats during its annual cycle of breeding, migration, and overwintering. Population density estimates in Central Mexico were at a record low during the winter of 2013-14 (WWF 2014). Overwintering monarchs occupied just 1.65 acres of forest surface, well-below the historic average of about 15 acres. Scientists estimate 4-20 million monarchs per acre. The target for monarch recovery is a sustained population of 225 million monarchs by 2020.

No Milkweed, No Monarchs

People who want to help reverse the monarch population decline understand the need for more milkweed. Milkweed is the only plant where monarchs lay eggs and the only plant monarch caterpillars eat. Here in the Midwest, Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is the main host plant for monarchs. However, Common Milkweed isn’t as common as it used to be. In 1999, Common Milkweed was found in about half of Iowa’s corn and soybean fields (Hartzler 2010). Ten years later only about 8% of corn and soybean fields had milkweed.

The central flyway of the U.S. has been identified as a high priority area for monarch habitat restoration because research shows that about half of the monarchs overwintering in Mexico were from the Midwest. To help reach the goal of 225 million monarchs by 2020 we need > 1.3 billion new stems of milkweed on the ground. According to monarch experts, “agricultural lands are essential to reaching restoration targets because they occupy 77% of all potential monarch habitat” (Thogmartin et al. 2017).