[Pollinator] Coverage of NACD-NAPPC Pollinator Award for Ranchers and Farmers

[Ladadams at aol.com]

>From the Cape Gazette (everything is correct except the  headline!) 

Harrington farmer wins Delaware conservation  award   
The Delaware  Department of Agriculture has announced that Delaware farmer 
Chuck Hurd  has been chosen to receive the Farmer-Rancher Pollinator 
Conservation  Award from the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign and the  
National Association of Conservation Districts. This award recognizes an  
individual or family in the farm and ranch community in the U.S. who has  contributed 
significantly to pollinator species protection and  conservation on working and 
wild lands.
Hurd, who farms  Lister Acres in Harrington, was nominated for the award by 
Dr. Faith  Kuehn, administrator of the Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA) 
Plant  Industries Section, for his efforts on behalf of a long-term bee  
conservation project initiated by DDA and funded, in part, by Northeast  
Sustainable Research and Education. Among Hurd’s environmental best  management 
practices and advocacy that contributes to pollinator  conservation:
• In 2005 Chuck  Hurd offered DDA use of an acre of his farm to plant a 
native wildflower  meadow that he continues to maintain. DDA uses the “bee meadow” 
as a bee  survey study site.
• 
In 2000, Hurd  installed 14 acres of Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program 
(CREP)  filter strips. He maintains the filter strips and delays mowing until 
 after most of the flowering plants have stopped blooming, thereby  
preserving season-long forage for pollinators. Natural plant community  succession 
continues to introduce a number of native bee forage plants  into the filter 
strips. 
Hurd’s farming practices demonstrate a good  understanding of pollinator 
conservation.
• Approximately 90  percent of the acreage in production is no till.
• He applies  pesticides when absolutely necessary; however, he only applies  
insecticides after sunset to protect foraging bees from contact with the  
product.
• In land that is  not in production or enrolled in the CREP program, he has 
installed  buffers and has allowed natural seeding to introduce a number of 
bee  forage plants.
• He maintains,  relatively undisturbed, a large tract of forest along the 
southern  boundary of the Lister Acres property. This diverse and mature stand 
of  bottomland hardwoods provides ample nesting and foraging opportunities for  
insect pollinators from wood-nesting bees to butterflies.
• In addition to  practices already in place, Hurd signed up for a farm 
assessment that is  part of the department’s Farming for Native Bees project. The 
department  is reviewing the farm’s land use and habitat structure, production  
practices, pesticide use and conservation philosophy. Based on the  project’s 
recommendations, farmers will be asked to commit to a series of  conservation 
improvements aimed at improving habitat and forage for native  bees.
• He assisted DDA  with installation of a butterfly garden on his property. 
Plants in the  garden are primarily native plants, chosen to provide food and 
shelter for  bees, butterflies and natural enemy insects.
• Due to his  involvement with the DDA bee project, Hurd became interested in 
 beekeeping. He attended training sessions offered by the Delaware  
Beekeepers Association, rescued a number of swarms and now maintains his  own hives at 
Lister Acres.
• Hurd has helped  to raise awareness of the need for pollinator conservation 
within the  agricultural community.
• Following a  workshop presentation highlighting Lister Acres’ bee friendly 
practices,  11 additional farmers expressed interest in participating in the  
Department’s bee project.
• In 2008, the  Lister Acres model of an acre pollinator meadow was copied by 
a Maryland  cucurbit farmer.
Hurd’s efforts and  interest provided a catalyst for the Delaware Department 
of Agriculture to  seek funding from the Natural Resources Conservation 
Service for the  publication of two booklets for farmers: Farm Management for Bees, 
a Guide  for Delaware and Delaware Native Plants for Native Bees.
In recognition of  Chuck Hurd’s award, Austin Short, acting secretary of 
agriculture said, “I  congratulate Chuck Hurd on being chosen for this award and 
thank him for  his pollinator conservation efforts. As a farmer and a forester, 
I fully  understand the importance of pollinators. Seventy-five percent of 
the  world’s flowering plant species rely on pollinators. One hundred and  
thirty of the crop plants grown in the United States are pollinated by  bees. The 
rich biodiversity in our forests and other natural areas is  dependent both 
directly and indirectly upon our native pollinators. Our  food supply and our 
quality of life would be seriously impacted if we lost  our pollinators.”





























































































Laurie Davies Adams
Executive  Director
Pollinator Partnership 
423 Washington Street, 5th  floor
San Francisco, CA  94111
415-362-1137
LDA at pollinator.org

_www.pollinator.org_ (http://www.pollinator.org/) 

_www.nappc.org_ (http://www.nappc.org/) 

National Pollinator Week is June 22-28, 2009. 
Beecome  involved at _www.pollinator.org_ (http://www.pollinator.org/) 
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