July 18, 2014
On June 20, 2014, the USDA announced $8 million in financial incentives for farmers creating new honey bee habitats. The funding will come through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and is only offered to farmers in Michigan and four other states. In a press release about the new program, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said: “In recent years, factors such as diseases, parasites, pesticides or habitat loss have contributed to a significant decline in the honey bee population. This $8 million is part of the Administration’s ongoing strategy to reverse these trends and establish more plant habitat on Conservation Reserve Program lands to restore the bee population.”
Visit your local USDA Farm Service Agency office for more information about this new program. View the press release at: (We have identified that the following link is no longer active, and it has been removed.)