Sponsored: Save the Bees

But we’ve all seen the headlines about how bees and other insect pollinators are in trouble. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the total number of managed honey bee colonies in the U.S. decreased from five million in the 1940s to only 2.5 million today.

What’s causing the decline? Scientists have yet to pinpoint the cause for sure, but studies point to multiple factors, including climate change, pesticides, disease and habitat loss.

Farms can help native bees by enhancing and protecting the flowering plants and nest sites that pollinators feed on year-round. Other conservation practices that help bees include minimizing tillage, reducing the use of pesticides and protecting natural areas around farms.

“A majority of the crops in Michigan are dependent on pollinators,” says Brian Brandt, American Farmland Trust director of agricultural conservation innovations. “But we have lost the varied habitat for honeybees that we used to have. We need to get more pollinator habitat back in the landscape.”

A new project by American Farmland Trust (AFT) is enlisting conserved farms in the fight to help save bees and other pollinators. The AFT program will help farms pay for the cost of such practices by allowing them to achieve “pollinator credits” that can be sold to businesses around Michigan that depend on bees, such as food companies.

Participating farms will plant selected species that improve pollinator habitat. The program targets farms that have protected their land with conservation easements, or will do so.

“I’m hoping we can eventually expand the program to other areas,” says Brandt. “At AFT, we’re always asking, ‘How do we find innovative ways to bring new funding into agriculture to support conservation?’ This is one solution.”

You can help raise awareness about the loss of farmland and the impact it has fresh, local food for the next generation. Sign-up to get a FREE No Farms No Food® car magnet from American Farmland Trust and join the farmland movement.

This article is brought to you by American Farmland Trust the nation’s leading national conservation nonprofit dedicated to protecting farmland, promoting sound farming practices and keeping farmers on the land. Learn more about AFT and how we are helping beginning farmers thrive by visiting us online at, www.farmland.org.