Greetings farmers, You probably won't get to read this until the next rainy day but a colleague from New York (Cornell University) has asked me to share this with you, hoping you can answer a few questions to indicate your observations and problems related to pollinators on your farm. He is writing a SARE grant to do some research with farmers in the North Central Region. If there is interest in Michigan for a similar project I would be happy to work with you to develop a Research or Farmer/Producer proposal through SARE. Here are the questions and you can email your results to him, Robert Hadad directly at [log in to unmask] <mailto:rgh26%40cornell.edu> . If you are interested in doing something similar in Michigan then please include me in your responses ([log in to unmask]) Here is his note: "Greetings, > I am working on developing a research project that would investigate > the deliberate attraction of beneficial insects (and other organisms) > - including native pollinators, through the use of particular cultural > practices on organic farms. Getting some feedback from farmers will > help me assess the need for doing this research as well strengthen the > proposal when submitted. > If you could answer each question and then email the survey back to me > off line, I would be greatly appreciative of your effort. > Thanks. > Robert > > 1) What types of insect pests are your worst problems on either fruit or > vegetables, please specify which crop/pest. > > 2) What type of control method(s) do you currently use? > > 3)Do you use any method or practice to attract beneficials to your field > plots? What are they? > > 4)Do you think the problem of declining honey bee population will be a > problem for you this season? Do you normally see many honeybees > visiting your crops? > > 5)Are you familiar with identification of beneficial insects and other > creatures) Are you familiar with recognizing native pollinators? > > 6) If funded, this project will be looking for farmers to participate in > on-farm research dealing with establishing seasonal (and maybe > semi-permanent) beneficial habitats to attract beneficials to fields and > monitoring pest pressure. Would you be interested in hearing more about > this project and maybe take part? (or interested in doing something similar in Michigan) > > Thanks for your help. > > Robert Hadad > Cornell Vegetable Program Specialist > Niagara Co. CCE > 4487 Lake Ave. > Lockport, NY 14094 > 585-739-4065 > [log in to unmask] <mailto:rgh26%40cornell.edu> " Vicki Morrone Organic Vegetable and Crop Outreach Specialist Michigan State University C.S. Mott Sustainable Food Systems 303 Natural Resources Bldg. East Lansing, MI 48824 517-353-3542 517-282-3557 (cell) 517-353-3834 (fax) http://www.MichiganOrganic.msu.edu/ http://www.mottgroup.msu.edu/ If you would like to access previous postings to the Mich-Organic listserv you can copy and paste the following URL into your browser address bar http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html