A new article in Earth Island Journal highlights the work of researchers and growers on the Integrated Crop Pollination Project to support pollinating insects and improve crop pollination and yield. The piece features interviews with project director Rufus Isaacs (Michigan State), researcher Neal…
For release Feb. 2016 — Pollination is essential to the production of many fruit, nut, and vegetable crops. Most crops are primarily pollinated by a combination of managed and wild bees. Growers need pollination strategies that can reliably deliver pollination and ensure quality,…
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the 2016 application and renewal period for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), the nation’s largest conservation program for working lands. The program provides farmers and ranchers with annual payments for implementing specific conservation activities on their land.…
Check out the newly released 2016 Project ICP newsletter for updates on our research project from the past year, snapshots from the field, grower and advisor spotlights, NASS survey updates, and more! If you’d like to receive this annual newsletter with news and updates…
A new study from Cornell University, co-authored by Project ICP researcher Jason Gibbs (Michigan State University), finds that apple pollination in New York orchards is more related to diversity of wild bee communities than the abundance of honey bees. The authors observed and…
A new national assessment of the status and trends of U.S. wild bees estimates that wild bees declined in 23% of the contiguous U.S. between 2008 and 2013. The team of Project ICP researchers, led by Insu Koh at the University of…
The blue orchard bee (Osmia lignaria) is an alternative managed bee used by some tree fruit and nut growers around the US. A recent study by Project ICP research partners Derek Artz and Theresa Pitts-Singer found that a common fungicide…
Farmers with a diversity of plants on the orchard floor and orchard edge have abundant and diverse pollinator communities in their orchards, according to a recent paper co-authored by Project ICP research partner Dave Biddinger. Wild pollinators, in addition to honey…
Project ICP researcher Jason Gibbs (Michigan State University) has co-authored two recent papers on wild bees in New York apple orchards, as part of his former work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Danforth lab at Cornell University. The first…