randy oliver wrote 6/27/07:

> As the Xerces guy stated:  "This bill can help to improve crop
> security and the sustainability of agriculture, by helping farmers
> in the United States diversity their pollinator portfolio."

I went to the Xerces Society website to find out specifically what
native pollinator habitat enhancement measures Xerces is
recommending for farms:
http://www.xerces.org/Pollinator_Insect_Conservation/ag_info.html
"Adding flowers, leaving areas of soil untilled where possible,
and providing bee blocks (tunnels drilled into wood) are all
ways to increase the number of native bees on your farm."

But Xerces doesn't tell growers if the magnitude of the increase
in native bee diversity and abundance from such measures 
will be large or small.  Nor does Xerces tell growers if these 
measures might also risk unintended side effects like providing 
more habitat and harborage for for pest rodents, insects,
weeds and crop disease pathogens, which in turn might
make it necessary for a grower to use more pesticide.
Thus I wonder if growers would consider Xerces's
recommendations helpful or harmful to crop security?

today you wrote:

> we are indeed at risk in agriculture when we rely wholly
> on any single species of crop or pollinator (just ask the
> almond growers).

I think Bill Truesdell pointed out this is the way farming has
been conducted in the USA for decades and yet yields
per acre of practically all crops have been steadily
increasing. I wonder if the crop insurance companies
and farm credit  banks would say industrialized farming
methods have improved or worsened the frequency and 
magnitude of the crop failure claims and loan defaults they 
have to deal with?

Paul Cherubini
El Dorado, Calif.

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