46 / SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2018 PROTECTINGPOLLINATORS ThisseriesissponsoredbyOperationPollinator, aSyngentaglobalinitiative. WHEN THE ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency called for individ- ual states to develop pollinator protection plans and best management practices for pesticide risk management, states stepped up. Many created task forces, bringing stakeholders from all sides of the issue together. “These groups have worked on eve- rything from habitat creation at the state level and with private landowners to get- ting the word out and increasing overall pollinator awareness,” says Dave Flakne, Syngenta senior director of state affairs. Farmers, beekeepers, pesticide applicators and other agricultural agen- cies have all contributed to the leadership teams, as plans have been put in place. “Many of these pollinator protection plans are primarily communication and education plans,” says Flakne, who has been involved in state pollinator programs for many years. “We want to ensure we have good trust and communication to minimize any potential risk.” Andy Whittington, Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation environment pro- grams coordinator, says all 50 states now have programs in place, or at least in development, and that each state has set its own priorities. “A lot of these programs look really different, which is good,” Whittington says. “They have different needs, depend- ing on whether their focus is on contract pollinator services or honey production.” In North Carolina, Patrick Jones, who serves as the Department of Agriculture’s deputy director for the Pesticide Division, says their efforts have largely been focused on increasing awareness. “States are given freedom to set their programs up however they see best, and some states have created best manage- ment practices for specific crops,” Jones says. “We have included a number of those (for apples, soybeans and cotton) in the educational brochures we’ve developed.” For Whittington in Mississippi, the priority is on fostering communication between beekeepers and farmers. “We started by facilitating a discussion between the beekeepers and the farmers, and then brought in other organizations to expand that discussion,” he says. Mississippi does not use a bee registry, because the keepers didn’t want to dis- close their hive locations, due to competi- tion reasons for farm locations. “Our keepers prefer to work with farmers individually, so we focus on discussing pollinator health and aware- ness at our soybean groups, and other agricultural meetings,” he says. “We are encouraging them to communicate throughout the season.” These educational efforts have been well-received. “Knowing where the bees are is an important step,” Whittington says. “We’ve distributed more than 2,000 bee flags throughout the state, and our farmers have been willing to consider making any necessary pesticide applications when the bees are less active in the morning or late in the afternoon.” FieldWatch FieldWatch is a non-profit company that provides easy-to-use and reliable mapping tools to increase communication and awareness between producers Just as worker bees provide the hive with the substance it needs to thrive, states work to create pollinator habitat and increase awareness for an overall bigger impact in protecting pollinators. Melissa Shipman melissanshipman@gmail.com STATESTAKETHEREIGNONPOLLINATORHEALTH of specialty crops, beekeepers and pesticide applicators. “States reach out to us, often as part of their managed pollinator plans process, to improve the communica- tion between beekeepers and pesticide applicators. Beekeepers and crop grow- ers put their information into the system and it’s then available when an applica- tor is making plans to apply pesticides,” says Stephanie Regagnon, CEO of FieldWatch, Inc. “We focus on the end user, the pesti- cide applicator, because we need them to know this data is available to them, so they can make informed decisions,” Regagnon says. FieldWatch is in its 10th year of opera- tion, and now connects beekeepers and applicators in 19 states and one Canadian province. Regagnon says that some states choose to use their own bee registry systems. However, because FieldWatch integrates with many technology part- ners, it’s widely used by private and retail applicators. It’s also convenient for applicators who work in multiple states, so they only have to use one system. Jones has been keeping bees for 20 years and sits on the board of FieldWatch, as a representative for all state departments of agriculture. He knows that most beekeepers want a voluntary program. He appreciates that FieldWatch fits that desire. Regagnon agrees. “The pro of a vol- untary program is that it is not a regula- tory enforcement tool, but the con is that you might not get 100 percent par- ticipation,” she says. “We want to build