Farms, bees and ethanol – it’s all linked
What does ethanol fuel have to do with organic farmers and
honeybees?
Plenty, it seems.
But making that connection takes a bit of a drive.
Carolyn Lochhead explained the whole convoluted mess that’s
putting the pinch on California’s organic growers as well as on the
health of a bee population that is vital to farming.
Farms, bees and ethanol – it’s all linked
What does ethanol fuel have to do with organic farmers and honeybees?
Plenty, it seems.
But making that connection takes a bit of a drive.
Carolyn Lochhead explained the whole convoluted mess that’s putting the pinch on California’s organic growers as well as on the health of a bee population that is vital to farming.
First, demand for ethanol to blunt the skyrocketing cost of petroleum-based fuel is helping drive grain prices to record highs. A farm bill now being ironed out in the House and Senate promises to further push industrialized crop production while trimming existing farm conservation programs.
Congress wants to raise farm subsidies, over the objection of the Bush administration. Giving the folks back home a slice of federal pork is a Congressional tradition, after all.
That’s likely to push grain farmers to convert land vital to bees to grain crops. Billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent over the years to ensure that prairie land in Montana and the Dakotas does not feel the bite of the plow. That’s the area where beekeepers summer many of their hives. Bees depend on nectar from a succession of blooms for a steady source of nourishment.
With commodity prices outstripping federal subsidies for preserving prairie land, change is coming. Ducks Unlimited predicts a tremendous loss of natural landscapes and wildlife. That’s not just bad for birds, but for bees as well.
Beekeepers bring hives from across the west to pollinate crops. When thousands of acres of almonds in the Central Valley bloom in one spectacular show, bees brought into the orchards go to work.
In a flurry of activity, they spread pollen from blossom to blossom, feasting on nectar as they go.
But when the blossoms are done, so are the bees. So much of the valley is devoted to vast swaths of corporate agriculture that there’s nothing left to eat. It’s like enjoying a Thanksgiving feast one day, followed by weeks of deprivation.
That’s why the bees are moved to where food is available.
It’s not as if bees are not already under assault. We’ve already reported about a mysterious plague called Colony Collapse Disorder. Domesticated bees suffered a 35 percent decline last winter.
Research now suggests that new systemic pesticides, popular as a safe alternative for people, may be a significant contributor.
The insecticides control pests by robbing them of the ability to navigate, by making it impossible to do what bugs do.
Bees are simply leaving their hives and flying aimlessly until they die.
That, combined with habitat loss, known pests, diseases and the crop monoculture found in California’s almonds, is dealing the bees a heavy blow.
Organic farmers, while still representing a tiny fraction of domestic food production, engage in practices that avoid pesticides and rotate crops in ways that foster beneficial wildlife.
But those same rising grain prices are making conventionally farmed grains more attractive to farmers. A growing shortage of organic feed translates into higher prices for organic meat and dairy. That, in turn, is pushing more farmers toward heavily subsidized grain crops and off the small farms that sustained them and the communities around them.
That’s a high price to pay to save a few pennies at the gas pump.
