The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is encouraging farmers and rural landowners to take steps to help protect Minnesota's insect pollinators.  

 

The MDA's “Protect Minnesota Pollinators” campaign began in 2014 when Minnesota State Fair visitors made a “Pollinator Promise” to protect bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Now, the 2015 campaign shifts beyond the metro area to encompass land throughout the entire state. The campaign encourages landowners to use Best Management Practices developed by the MDA and others to improve and create pollinator habitat, and to combine those practices with funding sources available at the state and federal levels to make a difference on the landscape.  

 

“There are ways rural landowners can improve pollinator habitat and increase plant diversity,” says Kevin Cavanaugh with the MDA pollinator outreach staff. “Every best management practice that is followed will help make agricultural and rural landscapes more pollinator friendly.” 

 

The campaign also highlights stories of rural Minnesotans who have taken specific measures to improve pollinator habitat: 

• Lac qui Parle County farmer Carmen Fernholz, operates a 400-acre organic farm with a 30-acre restored prairie and wetlands, and just planted additional acreage. 

 

• Todd County farmer Dan Peyton and beekeeper Karl Trampusch, Long Prairie, joined forces to rent a hard-to-find, "no-till" drill to plant pollinator friendly habitat. 

 

• Bud Stimmler, supervisor of Clear Lake Township, organized an effort to restore the township's 39-acre park to a native prairie and now tends it with the help of others. 

 

• Todd County landowner Jim Benson, planted eight acres of land with pollinator-friendly plantings this summer, with the help of local youth. 

 

Scientific studies show that a decline in these beneficial insects means a loss of important ecological services, such as pollination and pest control.

 

Pollinators depend on flowering plants for their food and some need undisturbed ground and vegetation for shelter. 

 

“From master gardeners working with homeowners, to the efforts of the state, cities, counties, farmers and other rural landowners -- we appreciate the work these and many others have done to address the challenges in our pollinator populations,” said Cavanaugh.  

 

If you're interested in creating, improving or managing pollinator-friendly habitat, the MDA's Best Management Practices to Promote Pollinators in Agricultural Landscapes is online at www.mda.state.mn.us/pollinators. You can also find more information on the stories of rural Minnesotans' pollinator habit efforts at that site. A list of Minnesota programs and funding can be found at www.bwsr.state.mn.us/practices/pollinator.