Field Notes June 2021
It’s summer – and summer means bugs! Not all of them are pests – but when it comes to beneficial insects, what can we do to help them? And what, exactly, do they do for us?
David Redhage tackles that first question with a review of a new book from the Xerces Society, 100 Plants to Feed the Monarch. An older report from the Kerr Center’s horticulture program expands that answer to the field scale, looking at ways to use cover crops to create habitat for beneficial insects.
Meanwhile, a recent study provides part of an answer to the second, revealing that pollination services can make up a larger share of commercial beekeepers’ profits than honey sales.
Speaking of bugs – from the biological kind to the digital, they’ve been causing problems for the beef business for the past year and counting. Local beef provides an alternative, but not without challenges of its own. There are plenty of resources to help you navigate those, whether you’re buying, selling, or literally in between, as the processor.Field Notes – June 2021 (PDF, 700 KB)