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USDA announces continuing partnership with bee associations

The USDA is partnering with beekeeping organizations in the US to provide their members with information on USDA programs that will benefit pollinators. The department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the American Honey Producers Association and the American Beekeeping Federation.

The USDA says farmers and ranchers participating in its Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) have created more than 15 million acres of habitat and forage for pollinators, and many are enrolled in a pollinator-specific program. However, pollinators can benefit from many different programs on private land that can provide wildflowers, shrubs and safe nesting sites. Some of these programs are intended to improve water quality or create bird habitats.

The two organizations have worked with the USDA in the past to help focus research and make improvements. The MOU is intended to create a framework moving forward for sharing information on conservation programs with beekeepers.

Through the President’s National Strategy to Promote Health of Honeybees and Other Pollinators, the USDA has invested more than $82 million in pollinator research and over the past decade has published nearly 200 journal articles about pollinators.

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