News
Honey bee habitat project renewed
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will again provide funding to help Upper Midwest farmers improve habitat for honey bees in Fiscal 2016. Farmers in Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin can get funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to plan and promote habitat which will provide better nutrition for the bees. The goal of the program is to improve nutrition for the bees during the summer months so they will be better prepared to make it through the winter.
NRCS Chief Jason Weller says while honey bees are responsible for pollinating some $15 billion in crops each year they are especially important to a number of specialty crops grown in those Midwestern states. From June to September, 65 percent of the commercially managed honey bees in the country are in the Midwest.
A bonus of the program is the improved habitat be it cover crops or pasture management may also reduce erosion, increase soil health and inhibit invasive species.
Signup for the program is continuous at the USDA field office, those applications submitted by October 2, 2015 will be ranked and will be eligible for FY 2016 funding.
Weller talks about the program:
I want to raise bees to help the environment in central norther Michigan..I have 80 acres of land located in corwth county.