Honey Bee Health Coalition members brought their vision for collaboration and cross pollination to Capitol Hill this week in a letter to policymakers working on the next Farm Bill.

Two dozen members of the Coalition wrote to policymakers on the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture and the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry urging them to prioritize programs that support honey bee health. The American Soybean Assocation (ASA) also signed onto the letter.

The letter, which you can read by clicking here, highlights the critical role the Farm Bill can plan in helping to “ensure that U.S. agricultural policy supports honey bees — and to ensure that honey bees can continue to support U.S. agriculture.”

The letter lays out a set of policy priorities that a number of Coalition members urged lawmakers to consider as they develop the next Farm Bill. These priorities include:

• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation program lands are essential to honey bee health and their acreage should be increased.
• The pollinator value and cost-effectiveness of plantings should be maximized on USDA conservation program lands, including through improving pollinator-specific programs and enhancing other programs to include pollinator habitat.
• Landowners and producers need flexibility to take management actions to benefit honey bees and other pollinators, including mid-contract management activities.

This letter builds on the Coalition’s past efforts to encourage collaborative strategies at the national level in the United States to support honey bee health. This has included providing USDA with consensus recommendations to increase the pollinator value and cost-effectiveness of conservation programs like the Conservation Reserve Program.

To learn more about the Honey Bee Health Coalition, click here.