Quote: I do not understand why beef and dairy would not be considered dependent on pollinators.
In defense of the brevity required for Bee-l, my statement is short-cited (pun intended). As a student of agronomy, the turn-over of perennial forage legumes is much longer than annuals. Alfalfa, for instance, usually comes into its best production for hay in the fourth year. Back in the days of my youth on the farm in Minnesota, the seed and preparation for a field of alfalfa required a nurse crop, usually oats, which was less profitable than corn/soybeans, but the consolation was the straw for animal bedding. With that in mind, alfalfa was not routinely plowed up and alfalfa seed is quite expensive, the last time I had reason to look, so established fields of alfalfa were maintained for several years, the longer the better. The need for pollinators wasn't a factor for the forage.
Additionally, savvy producers seldom let alfalfa come into full bloom as the longer they wait, the lower the quality of the forage. Alfalfa is coveted for its protein, and the best time to cut is when the field is just starting to bloom. Thankfully for the bees, not all producers are so punctual and weather is always a hassle when making hay. Alfalfa is not a favorite of the honeybees as the flower has to be "tripped" prior to sucking the nectar out. Native pollinators also work alfalfa.
Sweet clover (huban), both yellow and white, take two years to bloom as the first year is invested in growth, not bloom. Yet when allowed to grow over time in the same field, it readily reseeds. Yes, pollinators will be of great benefit. (And bear in mind, I'm not a big fan of the native pollinator protection argument).
So in my defense, the relative requirement for honeybees is not as important as say, peaches or almonds. Yes, honeybees will be needed for the production of seed, a specialized enterprise, but any pollination of the flower has no bearing on the productivity of the actual plant, though it's easy to anecdotally conclude, "When we added bees to the alfalfa field, the hay crop never looked better."
That's the problem with shooting off a quick answer, and e-mail type responses often have limitations conveying all the details. My apologies for any misunderstanding.
Grant
Iowa State University, College of Agriculture, Class of 1981
Recently of Jackson, MO
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