> Would it not be easier to work with already developed and highly
> respected groups for game birds and other animals that have in
> roads to farmers already to develop a joint program?
>> Societal pressure and government action work most
>> effectively when a number of stakeholder groups are
>> all on the same bandwagon.
But the Administration announced a program specifically focused on helping
pollination:
"Over the past few decades, there has been a significant loss of
pollinators, including honey bees, native bees, birds, bats, and
butterflies, from the environment. The problem is serious and requires
immediate attention to ensure the sustainability of our food production
systems, avoid additional economic impact on the agricultural sector, and
protect the health of the environment."
No seven ducks a-swimming, no six geese a-laying. There's no mention of,
and no funding allocated for gamebirds.
>> Some years ago the beekeepers got
>> stabbed in the back by Xerces society...
Yes, and rather than saying "I told you so" yet again a while from now, I'd
like to suggest yet again that the industry will have its hands full simply
explaining that "native bees, birds, bats, and butterflies" have an
insignificant impact on " our food production systems" and "the agricultural
sector", and we need not distract ourselves with another "alliance" with a
group that has its own established funding sources, and does not need to
syphon off any of this agriculture-oriented pollinator funding.
No one will mind one bit if the hunters see value in what is being done for
pollinators, and wish to add their support, but we don't need anyone's
"help" to divert funding away from agricultural pollinators.
Same goes for the Xerces folks - we'd appreciate their support, but we
cannot have usurpers taking funding needed for honeybee work, and diverting
it to research on some parasitic wasp or another.
Working towards a better environment certain will lift all boats, but let's
not be so naive as to let them plunder all the booty and then scuttle our
ship, as they did last go-round.
"O-bee-macare" as it was dubbed it over the weekend, has the following main
components:
a) planting more diverse vegetation on millions of acres of federal land
b) allocating $82.5 million of federal funds for research
c) pushing a reduction in the use of pesticides
Beekeepers can stand up for themselves, and actively state that when it
comes to food, there's honey bees for nearly everything, bumblebees for
greenhouse tomatoes (and little else), and a few highly specialized solitary
bees like alfalfa leafcutter bees doing all the agricultural heavy lifting.
The other "pollinators" are conservation and ecological issues, not
agricultural issues, as these NATIVE pollinators make their livings off
NATIVE plants, not off our imported and extensively hybridized FOOD plants.
We do NOT need to borrow other groups' polished professional
pitchmen/spokesmen. If we need a spokesperson, we could likely ask the
actor Samuel L. Jackson to do a voice-over, as he took up beekeeping of his
own accord, and ask BBC TV Host Bill Turnbull to help with the script, as
he wrote a book about his misadventures in hobby beekeeping. The travel
writer Paul Theroux kept a few hives a decade ago, I don't know if he kept
at it, or not. Regardless, there is sufficient talent to make our case
within our own ranks. No other producer group is shy about getting some mud
from their boots in the halls of congress, neither should beekeepers.
> We have reached the apex of agricultural efficiency...
Apex? Not even close. Gaze in awe upon the future...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/japanese-plant-experts-produce-100
00-lettuces-a-day-in-ledlit-indoor-farm-9601844.html
http://goo.gl/tikrft
http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2015/03/30m_vertical_farm_to_bring_jobs_fr
esh_greens_to_ne.html
http://goo.gl/oMDmrX
Also:
http://www.sensorfish.eu
http://www.eu-plf.eu
http://www.anemon-sa.ch
http://www.ecow.co.uk
http://www.medria.fr
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