White House proposal would pump millions into research

The White House recently proposed spending millions of dollars to research and reduce the impact that diseases, pesticides and habitat loss on honeybees, butterflies and other pollinators—an announcement that won accolades from agriculture groups but a word of caution from an association representing pesticide makers.

The proposed plan would increase spending on pollinator health to $82 million—$34 million more than the previous fiscal year, according to industry publication Chemistry World. Honeybees are used to pollinate a wide variety of crops, but in 2014 U.S. beekeepers reported losing about 40 percent of their colonies. Monarch butterfly numbers also declined. http://rsc.li/1RqySnJ

The White House announcement came as welcome news to associations representing the floral and horticulture industries. Four groups—the Society of American Florists, American Floral Endowment, AmericanHort and Horticultural Research Institute—issued a joint statement saying they embraced key aspects of the plan.

"The long-awaited strategy has three major goals: reducing honey bee colony losses, increasing Monarch butterfly populations, and restoring or enhancing millions of acres of land as pollinator habitat, through public and private action," they said. "As is the list of threats to bee and pollinator health, the national strategy itself is long and complex. We are studying the details, but the overall approach appears balanced and mostly sensible." http://bit.ly/1J4MrYp

The plan also generated praise from the Agricultural Retailers Association, largely because it acknowledged there could be several reasons why bee and butterfly populations are declining.

"ARA and our members understand the importance of pollinators in growing crops and sustaining plant life," Richard Gupton, senior vice president of Public Policy for ARA, told CropProtection news. http://bit.ly/1FPY2rG

CropLife America, which represents pesticide makers, welcomed the report but sounded a note of caution on linking declines in honeybee populations to pesticide use, as some environmentalists have done.

"Early reports from unnamed sources knowledgeable about the White House report are saying that it will accelerate EPA's timeline for further scientific evaluation of bee impacts by certain insecticides—we are skeptical of how sound science can be ‘sped up' for this evaluation and look forward to a reasoned dialogue with EPA on that point," CLA CEO Jay Vroom said. http://bit.ly/1RqBK3N

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