Last June, President Obama called for an interagency Task Force to create a Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators. Today, the Task Force released its strategy, under the joint leadership of EPA and USDA. The strategy has outlined three primary goals: reduce honey bee colony losses to economically sustainable levels; increase monarch butterfly numbers to … Read More
Bayer Opens New Breeding Facility
Bayer CropScience has celebrated the grand opening of its new $17 million, state-of-the-art, Beaver Crossing Breeding and Trait Development Station. Bayer hopes the research and development activities of this center will deliver breakthrough wheat and soybean varieties. The center will be focusing on parent discovery and hybrid wheat breeding, with plans to research new wheat varieties designed to help growers face … Read More
USDA Honey Bee Loss Survey
USDA’s annual honey bee survey offered some good news and some bad news about the important pollinators – winter losses were lower, but summer losses were higher than the previous year. According to the survey, losses of managed honey bee colonies were 23.1 percent for the 2014-2015 winter but summer losses exceeded winter numbers for the first time, making annual … Read More
Bayer to Help Pollinators and Wildlife
Bayer CropScience is putting more than $100,000 into improving pollinator and wildlife habitats on public sites in eight states. Partnering with Integrated Vegetation Management Partners, Inc., (IVM Partners), the deal will improve and expand these habitats on public rights-of-way through integrated vegetation management. The project aims to improve habitats for pollinators, birds and other wildlife in upland and wetland ecosystems … Read More
Bayer CropScience Teams with Flagship Ventures
Bayer CropScience has partnered with venture capital firm Flagship Ventures to invest in leading-edge agriculture companies and technologies. The partnership also includes an investment in Flagship Ventures Fund V, a $537 million venture capital fund that closed in March 2015. “Emerging challenges in agriculture are leading the industry in new and exciting directions,” said Liam Condon, chief executive officer of … Read More
Bayer CropScience Research to Improve Bee Colonies
A new research initiative from Bayer CropScience looks to improve the health of honey bee colonies. Healthy Hives 2020 will be conducted over the next five years and will bring together a cross-section of bee health stakeholders from multiple sectors, including academia, government, agriculture, business and the beekeeping community. Bayer CropScience is organizing a two-day workshop on June 2-3, 2015 … Read More
Bayer Celebrates 10th Anniversary of One Ton Club
Bayer CropScience is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the FiberMax One Ton Club and honored 183 growers for hitting the 2,000-pound-per-acre yield during 2014. During its first decade, the FiberMax One Ton Club has recognized 806 cotton growers who produced 2,000 pounds or more of lint cotton per acre on at least 20 acres using FiberMax cotton seed. In 2014, … Read More
Bayer Helps Growers CARE for Crops and Bees
Bayer CropScience is continuing a program that helps growers and beekeepers collaborate to help feed a growing planet. With more than $15 billion dollars worth of crops in the U.S. pollinated by bees each year, the CARE program, now in its third year, reflects Bayer’s ongoing commitment to product stewardship, protecting natural resources, enhancing agricultural sustainability and promoting partnerships between … Read More
Bayer CropScience, NC Partner for Roadside Pollinators
Bayer CropScience has pledged $100,000 to the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to be used for the development of roadside pollinator plantings this spring. This news release from the company says the project covers about 46 new acres of bee-attractant vegetation alongside North Carolina’s roads and highways, such as wildflower beds that promote honey bee population development and support … Read More
New Bayer CropScience R&D Facility Opens in NC
Bayer CropScience has opened a new breeding and trait development station in eastern North Carolina. This company news release says the $6.3 million state-of-the-art facility will be home to testing and development of new cotton and soybean varieties for the mid-Atlantic and Southern United States. The Breeding and Trait Development Station at Pikeville is the first of several Bayer CropScience … Read More