Midsummer Management Of Crop Pests And Pollinators

Aug 04, 2023

By Ashely Minnerath and Mace Vaughan

It’s summer and organic farmers across the U.S. are in the thick of managing weeds and pests. Right now, many of you are getting ready to till out crabgrass, treating crops to control flea beetles or squash bugs, or maybe wishing you had chosen a different cover crop or crop rotation. When making decisions about these management practices, you have the ability to dramatically affect – for better or worse – populations of beneficial insects that play pivotal roles in crop pollination and pest management. By understanding some basic principles of native bee biology, nesting habits, and the toxicity of various organic-approved pesticides, farmers can balance crop management strategies with the needs of resident wild bees and other beneficial insects.

Organic does not mean benign

Insecticides are usually harmful to beneficial insects and their use should be minimized whenever possible. Even some organic-approved pesticides can have devastating effects on native bees. To reduce these negative effects make sure that your Integrated Pest Management plan incorporates the habitat needs of pollinators.

When insecticides can’t be avoided, choose the least toxic option available. By properly calibrating equipment, using the most targeted spray equipment, and spraying during appropriate weather conditions, farmers can reduce the risk of pesticides or pesticide drift to resident bee populations.

A few tips:

Avoid spraying when crops, adjacent flowering weeds, or cover crops are in bloom.
Choose liquid formulations over dusts, as the dusts are long-acting and can become trapped in the pollen-collecting hairs of bees.
Be aware of the commonly used organic pesticides that are particularly harmful to native bees (pyrethrins, Rotenone, Beauveria bassiana , and spinosad).

Harnessing beneficials

Native bees and the natural enemies of crop pests need access to pollen and nectar-rich floral resources throughout the growing season in order to thrive. There are many ways to adjust current farm management practices to increase the forage available on your farm. For example, when developing cropping systems or rotations, consider how you can maximize the diversity of bee-pollinated crops in order to provide more abundant forage opportunities throughout the season.

Similarly, it is useful to think beyond one year. You may have an abundance of pumpkin or sunflower in one year, and be building up a population of wild bees near that crop. However, if the next year those crops are not available within the foraging range (say 750 feet) of where the offspring of those bees emerge, they will not continue to increase in number. Cover crops are frequently used to build soil tilth and fertility and control weeds. Choosing bee-friendly flowering cover crops, such as lacy phacelia, buckwheat, clover, or alfalfa, and allowing these cover crops to bloom, provides additional nectar and pollen resources.

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Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.