Conserving pollinators on farms with prairie strips

View the project final report

Commodities

Practices

• Crop Production: agroforestry, cropping systems, pollinator habitat, pollinator health
• Education and Training: demonstration, farmer to farmer, networking, technical assistance
• Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity, carbon sequestration, grass waterways, habitat enhancement, soil stabilization
• Production Systems: agroecosystems
• Soil Management: soil analysis, soil chemistry, soil microbiology, soil quality/health, toxic status mitigation
• Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems, partnerships, social networks

Prairie strips are a conservation practice in Midwest agriculture in which 10% of a rowcrop field is converted to strips of native prairie. Prairie strip implementation controls erosion, reduces pests, improves water quality, and creates wildlife corridors. Preliminary data has also suggested that prairie strips can remove harmful insecticides from farm soils, but the generality and mechanisms of insecticide removal have not been described. Despite their known conservation benefits, adoption of prairie strips remains low across much of the Eastern Corn Belt, suggesting the need to better identify and communicate the benefits of prairie strips in collaboration with agriculture stakeholders. We conducted a paired research and outreach project centered on the ecological and economic benefits of prairie strips on southwest Michigan farms.

In this paired research and outreach project, we 1) conducted a field experiment to identify the mechanism of soil insecticide removal in prairie strips and 2) hosted a farm field day to foster shared learning among agricultural stakeholders on prairie strip implementation and soil health benefits. Our research project included a field study to investigate the removal of insecticides by prairie strips, followed by a laboratory study to determine whether prairie strip soil microbes are degrading neonicotinoids. We found that converting 10% of a rowcrop field reduces soil insecticides at the field scale, and that this reduction was explained by biochemical processes in the surface soil (0-10 cm) of the prairie strips rather than deep soil leaching or plant uptake. We also hosted a field day event at the site of a successful prairie strip implementation in southwest Michigan, where local scientists, farmers, and conservation managers gathered to learn about prairie strip soil health benefits. The field day included presentations by two local prairie strip farmers, a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) technician, and scientists, a soil pit that showed the impact of prairie strips on the agricultural soil profile, and a wagon tour for participants to see several successful prairie establishments under a variety of management regimes.

Results of our research project were presented at the farm field day and at scientific meetings, and will later be published in a scientific journal centered on agricultural soil conservation. We prepared a 1-page informational flyer for field day participants that describes the Michigan Prairie Strips (MiSTRIPS) outreach program, as well as an informational packet describing the seed mix and management regime associated with each of the prairies on the field day wagon tour.

This project achieved three objectives: 1)  we increased the academic community’s understanding of how prairie strips remediate neonicotinoid insecticides, 2) we increased farmers’ and land managers' awareness of prairie strips in southwest Michigan, and 3) we increased farmers’ and land managers' access to a local network of resources for prairie strip adoption. The project also achieved two action objectives: 1) we provided farmers and land managers with resources about prairie strip conservation benefits including pollinator conservation, and 2) we connected farmers and land managers with local contacts who can assist with prairie strip enrollment and implementation.