You don’t typically hear farmers saying they want to attract bugs to their farm, but that’s what a unique conservation project in California’s Sacramento Valley is doing – determining whether cover crops can attract more at-risk native pollinators, like monarch butterflies, in addition to insects that serve as pest control, like ladybugs. The project came about thanks to a $3-million monarch and pollinator recovery bill (AB 2421) designed to establish habitat restoration projects for important pollinator species facing steep population losses. Find out more in this blog post from the Environmental Defense Fund.

For the last couple of decades, a tiny insect called the Asian citrus psyllid has fed on the stems and leaves of the orange trees in Florida, infecting them with bacteria that cause a lethal disease called citrus greening. After years of seeking remedies—everything from antibiotics to GMOs to psyllid-sniffing dogs—with little success, Florida’s embattled citrus growers have discovered a new tool, thanks to the work of researchers at the University of Florida: planting cover crops amidst the orange groves.

Careful manure management is a principle of farm profitability and environmental stewardship. Applying manure to land that has a cover crop is another practice that can help with nitrogen management.

Cover crops can be used to benefit multiple aspects of your operation. However, in order to see notable improvement, specific areas you want to progress must be outlined so that a plan of action can be formed accordingly. As we get through the start of the New Year, now is a good time to set goals for cover crop performance and develop a strategic plan to achieve them.