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May 13, 2025
By Rob McLean
Soy growers are committed to improving sustainability and conservation practices to protect the bees, butterflies, birds and other pollinators in their fields and near their farms. They understand that the symbiosis between these winged visitors and the ecosystem is vital to both agriculture and the environment.
That’s why the American Soybean Association supports policy initiatives to protect pollinators and has an advocacy team devoted to conservation efforts. But ASA also teams up with valued industry partners and coalitions to encourage public awareness of planting milkweed and building pollinator habitats. Across the agriculture industry, companies are implementing programs and initiatives to protect pollinators.
Here’s a look at some of the resources and initiatives ASA partners are working on:
Caydee Savinelli, Syngenta
As an agricultural entomologist, every day I want to help farmers control pests while maintaining beneficial insects, including pollinators. As one of the leading global innovators into new ways to protect crops, Syngenta North America Crop Protection has for years been committed to protecting and enhancing pollinators, their forage and habitat. Playing a part in that team effort from our Greensboro, N.C., headquarters has been an important part of my role in stewardship.
One of the ways we support forage and habitat restoration is through Operation Pollinator, our global initiative that brings together farmers, land managers, NGOs and academic experts to support the development of pollinator habitats in a variety of landscapes. Together, we support farms and golf courses with partners including the Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund and Project Apis m. organization in creating pollinator habitat in non-crop portions of their properties, such as field borders, hedgerows, buffer strips and marginal cropland. This way, farmers and landowners can help provide forage and food for native bees, honey bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects while augmenting biodiversity and environmental benefits.
Of course, we all have a role to play to protect pollinators—including the agriculture industry at large. So, it is important to be part of industrywide efforts like the Growing Matters coalition and its BeSure! campaign, which is aimed at helping educate farmers and applicators about the safe use of crop protection tools.
While pests and diseases are always evolving, Syngenta works to innovate the tools and support the practices that responsibly steward our precious resources, like the world’s pollinators. The challenges are many, but we believe that together, we can meet them all.
Tim Fredricks, Bayer Crop Science
Pollinators help farmers to have better harvests and the millions of people around the world to enjoy pollinator-dependent crops. At Bayer, we’re committed to doing our part to support a more sustainable future for agriculture that benefits people and our planet.
Bayer is collaborating with conservation groups, academic experts, farmers and government agencies across North America to enhance habitat for honey bees, monarch butterflies and other pollinators by finding meaningful and proactive ways to help all pollinators thrive. Through these partnerships, Bayer can have a larger impact with on-the-ground habitat projects and more efficiently move the conservation needle.
One of Bayer’s key partnerships, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through the Monarch Butterfly and Pollinators Conservation Fund, includes private and government funding for both technical assistance for private working lands and habitat improvement. Since 2015, the fund collectively has awarded $29 million to 156 projects with grantee matching funds of $43.9 million, which has resulted in the restoration or enhancement of 416,000 acres, propagation of 1.1 million native milkweed seedlings, collection of 3,400 pounds of native milkweed seeds, and outreach through 1,800 workshops and meetings. These outcomes cover areas occupied by both western and eastern monarch butterflies, as well as other threatened or endangered pollinators.
Helping pollinators—like honey bees and monarch butterflies—has other benefits, too, as good pollinator habitat can have broad conservation and land stewardship benefits. These include supporting multiple other insects, birds and mammals while improving soil structure, water infiltration, and decreasing field run-off to local water bodies. We believe supporting biodiversity and productivity in agriculture go hand-in-hand.
Stephanie Darnell, BASF
BASF is committed to helping farmers do the “biggest job on earth” through science and innovation, enabling farmers to make the most of every acre. And at the core of that commitment is a belief that agriculture needs both pollinators and crop protection innovation to thrive.
I am passionate about enhancing and maintaining healthy pollinator habitat across various landscapes, and I am proud to work at a company like BASF that not only supports my passion but shares it. Through the BASF “Living Acres” program, we are able to provide farmers with best practices for establishing milkweed plants on land not reserved for crops. Milkweed is the only plant on which monarchs will lay their eggs and that provides food for monarch’s larvae. Since the program’s inception in 2015, more than 35,000 milkweed stems have been provided to farms, golf courses and other agriculture advocates across the United States and Canada.
We are also a proud supporter of the Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund, helping establish high-quality habitats to ensure pollinator populations thrive while producing multiple environmental benefits. And our commitment to establishing pollinator-friendly habitats starts in our own backyards, as we have constructed habitats at BASF sites in Hannibal and St. Joseph, Missouri.
We strive to continue educating on the proper stewardship of plant protection products to preserve our pollinators through campaigns like “BeSure!,” which supports farmers and applicators by emphasizing stewardship practices that protect pollinators and other wildlife when choosing crop protection tools.
Through these programs and more, BASF continues to engage in conversations on the important role pollinators play in helping farmers feed our growing planet.
Leslie Garcia, Valent U.S.A. LLC
Pollinators play a crucial role in agriculture and biodiversity, and Valent is committed to supporting their health through responsible stewardship, habitat creation and industry collaboration.
A key aspect of pollinator protection is the responsible use of crop protection products. Valent ensures that all potential risks to pollinators—as well as protective measures—are clearly outlined on product labels. By following label guidelines, growers and applicators can take necessary steps to minimize the impact on pollinators while maintaining productive operations.
At Valent’s Midwest Agricultural Research Center (MWARC), we have enhanced pollinator habitat by converting a low-production area into a dedicated pollinator-friendly zone. This improves land use efficiency while providing a thriving environment for pollinators, demonstrating how sustainability and productivity go hand in hand.
Beyond our own operations, Valent actively contributes to pollinator research, education and awareness through key partnerships. We are proud members of the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) and work to foster communication between applicators and beekeepers through the FieldWatch organization. We also support Project Apis m., an organization dedicated to honey bee health, and are founding members of the BeSure! campaign, an industrywide initiative promoting best practices for protecting pollinators in agricultural and urban environments.
Further advancing honeybee health, Valent BioSciences has partnered with Vita Bee Health to introduce B402 (Certan), an innovative solution that protects honeycombs from wax moth infestations. Additionally, Valent BioSciences has integrated pollinator-friendly and wildlife habitat at Jiri-Rita Prairie Park, a 34-acre park in Osage, IA, further demonstrating our commitment to biodiversity.
Through these efforts, Valent remains dedicated to promoting pollinator health while advancing sustainable agriculture.
Aly Wells, Corteva
As part of Corteva’s ongoing commitment to more sustainable agriculture, we pledge to support biodiversity on 25 million acres in biomes where we work and sell our agricultural products by 2030. This includes supporting pollinators and beneficial plant species beyond traditional agricultural crops because we know that globally, 35% of food production benefits from pollinators that require certain environmental conditions to flourish. Also, our healthy habitat initiatives help reduce soil erosion, contribute to cleaner water, and play an important role balancing nutrients like carbon and nitrogen in our environment.
Corteva has partnered with leading conservation non-profits such as Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever to improve plant and wildlife biodiversity on transportation rights-of-way and energy corridors in the U.S. Through our partnership with National 4-H, we engage youth across the country to help them learn about the important role pollinators play in the environment and provide opportunities for them to help diversify the landscape and plant beneficial pollinator habitat.
The Corteva Grows Pollinator Habitat Program supports monarch butterfly and pollinator habitat at 88 Corteva and community sites across the U.S., which equates to over 100 acres of new habitat. What’s more, the Corteva Global Headquarters campus in Indianapolis, Indiana, is host to eight bee colonies. The honey produced (300 bottles in 2023) joins the bee-pollinated fruits and vegetables from the site’s employee-volunteer-run garden, which is dedicated to supporting local food pantries with free, fresh produce.
Corteva continues to partner with state, regional and national organizations focused on improving habitat for pollinators through a diverse set of initiatives. Some of these organizations include the Honey Bee Health Coalition, Farmers for Monarchs, the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium, the Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund and Monarch Joint Venture. We continue to seek partnerships that complement these efforts and diversify our reach both in the U.S. and abroad.
Marisa Uliveto, FMC Corporation
At FMC, we recognize that pollinators are essential partners in global agriculture. Beyond developing sustainable crop protection solutions, we are actively collaborating with organizations like Farmers for Monarchs and FieldWatch. These partnerships equip farmers with practical knowledge and tools to protect bees, butterflies, and other pollinators on their land.
We also put our values into practice by establishing pollinator habitats across our U.S. facilities, guided by experts at the Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund. This work isn't peripheral to our mission: It's fundamental to creating an agricultural system that thrives in harmony with nature's most important contributors to food security.
