Increasing bee forage in turf systems through different establishment techniques.

Commodities

• Fruits: grapes
• Additional Plants: native plants
• Animals: bees

Practices

• Crop Production: beekeeping, pollinator habitat, pollinator health
• Education and Training: demonstration, extension, farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research, workshop
• Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity, habitat enhancement, hedges - grass, soil stabilization
• Production Systems: agroecosystems

The expansion of vineyards in the Pacific Northwest has the
potential to negatively impact semi-natural areas rich in
biodiversity that are key to pollinators and other organisms.
This impact, however, may be offset by vineyards willing to
invest in providing on-farm habitat vital for bees. Through a
previous SARE Professional + Producer grant, we were able to
generate an Oregon Bee Friendly Wine initiative that enabled
producers to assess their current pollinator habitat. In this
second phase, we address a key finding of the original work,
namely, the intense interest in creating habitat by improving
turf-dominated headlands. We will capitalize on the nature of
unirrigated turf headlands in the arid west, specifically that
they go dormant in the summer when bee species most need pollen
and nectar. Using a controlled factorial field plot design, we
will test the effect of different lengths of chemical fallow,
herbicides, and methods of establishing seed beds in combination
with fall seeding of high-value nectar and pollen plants for bees
that are known to persist during the turf growing period. Using
our findings, we will establish two plots in producer fields
consisting of the most effective and most affordable systems for
improving headland turf with pollinator plants. Finally, we will
use a mix of field tours, videos, podcasts, and a new Western
SARE guide to increase the adoption of these practices among
vineyards, but also other horticultural crops.

Objective 1: Evaluation of different bee-attractive plants
and establishment methods in headland turf.

Objective 2: On-farm trial of best systems for plant
establishment in vineyard headlands.

Objective 3: Encourage the adoption of headland turf
improvement techniques through on-farm grower tours, webinars,
Extension publications, and how-to videos.