Environment: Honeybee decline worsens in 2012

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Shortage of honeybee colonies for agriculture growing

sdfg

Bees help pollinate commercial crops and wild plants. Bob Berwyn photo.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — U.S. beekeepers said they lost almost a third (31.3 percent) of their managed honeybee colonies during the 2012-2013 winter, more than double the “acceptable” loss rate of 15 percent.

Colony losses increased 42 percent from the previous year, with about 70 percent of the beekeepers surveyed reporting that they lost more than 15 percent of their honeybee colonies, according to the preliminary results of an annual survey.

An estimated one-third of all food and beverages are made possible by pollination, mainly by honey bees. A decline in managed bee colonies puts great pressure on the sectors of agriculture reliant on commercial pollination services. This is evident from reports of shortages of bees available for the pollination of many crops. (more…)

Filed under: agriculture, biodiversity, Environment | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Study: Wild insects key to crop pollination

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
Wild insect populations are critical to pollinating plant life. Bob Berwyn photo.

Wild insect populations are critical to pollinating plant life. Bob Berwyn photo.

Honeybees augment, but don’t replace diverse insect populations

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — With a lot of recent concerns focused on the decline of honeybee populations, a new study shows that wild insects even even more important as pollinators for certain crops for crops stocked routinely with high densities of honey bees, including almonds, blueberries, mangos and watermelons.

“Our study shows that losses of wild insects from agricultural landscapes impact not only our natural heritage but also our agricultural harvests,” said Lucas A. Garibaldi, of the Universidad Nacional de Río Negro – CONICET, Argentina.

“We found that wild insects consistently enhanced the number of flowers setting fruits or seeds for a broad range of crops and agricultural practices on all continents with farmland,” Garibaldi said. “Long term, productive agricultural systems should include habitat for both honey bees and diverse wild insects. Our study prompts for the implementation of more sustainable agricultural practices.” (more…)

Filed under: agriculture, biodiversity, Environment | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

Sen. Bennet calls for series of climate change hearings

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
asdf

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)

Global warming represents threats to agriculture, as well as economic opportunities

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Climate change is threatening pillars of the Colorado economy, including the ski industry and agriculture, according to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), who this week encouraged the chairs of all the Senate committees he sits on to address the issue by holding hearings during the current session of Congress.

Bennet serves on the Senate Finance and Agriculture committees and the and HELP Subcommittee on Children and Families.

“Between Superstorm Sandy, last summer’s wildfires and a persistent drought, extreme weather events fueled by our climate constitute substantial challenges for families across the country,” Bennet wrote in a letter to Chairwoman Kay Hagan, chair of the HELP Subcommittee on Children and Families. (more…)

Filed under: climate and weather, Colorado, global warming | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Bennet says Senate is ‘playing games’ with drought relief

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
Sen. Michael Bennet.

Sen. Michael Bennet.

Post-wildfire erosion seen as huge threat to water supplies

 By Summit Voice

FRISCO —Trying to win support for a farm bill that includes adequate disaster relief for Colorado’s drought-stricken farms, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet this week highlighted the devastating effects of last summer’s drought – one of the worst in decades – on Colorado’s agriculture industry and rural communities in a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing. The hearing was held to explore the toll weather disasters have taken on the country’s agriculture industry.

“We have now had two years in a row and it sounds like we’re going to have a third year of drought in our region,” Bennet said. “These conditions are forcing farmers and ranchers in Colorado to rely on disaster programs to make it from year to year. Producers in my state have stressed the need for certainty so they can appropriately manage their farms and ranches from season to season. Colorado’s economy depends heavily on the state’s agricultural industry, which is why I am committed to passing a long-term Farm Bill that provides certainty to Colorado’s farmers, ranchers, and rural communities,” Bennet said. (more…)

Filed under: agriculture, climate and weather, Colorado, Drought | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Midwest to feel the heat of global warming

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
opj

Global warming is likely to have significant effect on the Great Lakes. Photo courtesy NASA Earth Observatory.

Climate change stresses likely to cut agricultural output from the nation’s breadbasket

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The Midwest could be among the regions hit hardest by climate change, according to a trio of University of Michigan researchers who authored sections of the recent national climate assessment.

The region is likely to face frequent and more intense heat waves, water quality degradation and public health threats, with increasing risks to Great Lakes ecosystems.

“Climate change impacts in the Midwest are expected to be as diverse as the landscape itself. Impacts are already being felt in the forests, in agriculture, in the Great Lakes and in our urban centers,” said University of Michigan aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia, director of the Graham Sustainability Institute and special counsel to the U-M president on sustainability issues.

In the Midwest, extreme rainfall events and floods have become more common over the last century, and those trends are expected to continue, causing erosion, declining water quality and negative impacts on transportation, agriculture, human health and infrastructure, according to the report, which is open for public comment. (more…)

Filed under: climate and weather, Drought, global warming, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Citizen scientists could help monitor global bee populations

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Bob Berwyn
sadf

A bumblebee gathers pollen from fireweed blossoms in Summit County, Colorado.

Timely data would help establish early warning of threats to world’s food system

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — A new United Nations study suggests that a $2 million program, using volunteer citizen scientists, could help researchers keep better track of the world’s bee populations and form an early warning system alerting scientists to dangers threatening the world’s food system and economies.

The study found that counting and identifying bees regularly for five years at about 200 locations would produce data accurate enough to detect two to five percent annual declines in bee populations. The program could be scaled to fit different regional monitoring needs.

“My goal is to give agencies all around the world an effective way to monitor bees,” said San Francisco State University Professor of Biology Gretchen LeBuhn, lead author of the study. “Biologists have talked a lot about how bee populations are declining, but I don’t think we actually have good data that acts as an early warning signal for possible problems with our food system.” (more…)

Filed under: agriculture, biodiversity, Environment | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Environment: Herbicide use increasing exponentially

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Herbicide use spikes as weed resistance grows.

Transgenic crops and increasingly resistant weeds create new problems for growers and consumers

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The use of herbicides associated with the cultivation three key herbicide-tolerant crops of  has skyrocketed, increasing by 25 percent annually, according to a new study from Washington State University that analyzed trends in production of cotton, soybeans and corn.

The findings, described as counterintuitive by Washington State University research professor Charles Benbrook, are based on public data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Service.

The annual increase in the herbicides required to deal with tougher-to-control weeds on cropland planted to GE cultivars has grown from 1.5 million pounds in 1999 to about 90 million pounds in 2011. (more…)

Filed under: agriculture, Environment | Tagged: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

La Pastorella …

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

The fields and orchards of Austria

Wheat ripens on a farm in the Austrian Mühlviertel.

SUMMIT COUNTY — Austria has come a long way from the cliches portrayed in The Sound of Music, with a vibrant modern cultural scene and strong tech and industrial sector, but the country still takes pride in supporting local agriculture. In a cider pub near Linz, the kitchen featured a blackboard showing that almost all the food is produced from farms within a 10 mile radius, and the inns of the fruit-growing Wachau region take pride in serving locally grown apricots and plums in their sumptuous deserts. (more…)

Filed under: agriculture, Europe, Morning photo, photography, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Activists challenge USDA chief on climate-drought links

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Groups want top federal officials to be more upfront about global warming

Drought is devastating a wide swath of U.S. farmlands.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Environmental activists want top federal officials to directly address the possible connections between climate change and the current drought that’s crushing the life out of U.S. heartland, with potential implications for global food supplies.

Specifically, Forecast the Facts and FoodDemocracyNow! want Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to directly address the massive implications of manmade climate change for our entire farming sector. Scientists are clear that climate change is already leading to more extreme weather, such as longer and more severe droughts, according to Daniel Souweine, campaign director for Forecast the Facts. (more…)

Filed under: climate and weather, Drought, global warming | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Colorado: Agriculture to take big hit from drought

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

With extreme drought spreading across Colorado, Gov. John Hickenlooper is seeking to get ahead of the curve for federal disaster relief.

Gov. Hickenlooper seeks federal drought aid

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Several Colorado counties already meet federal criteria for drought relief, and more could be eligible soon, as farmers start to harvest wheat weeks ahead of schedule and some ranchers consider selling their cattle in the face of continued dry conditions.

In some parts of the state, ranchers won’t be able to grow enough hay to feed their cattle through the winter. Other areas were hit by an April frost after record warm temps in March spurred fruit trees to bloom.

As a result, Gov. John Hickenlooper last week requested drought assistance from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. (more…)

Filed under: climate and weather, Colorado, Drought, seasons, Snow and weather | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Next Page »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 5,720 other followers