1. Addressing Pollinator Health and Extension’s Role
Mary Purcell-Miramontes, USDA-NIFA
Institute for Food Production and Sustainability
Washington DC

2. Importance of pollinators
Pollinators are responsible for one in every three bites of food we take (if we are eating a balanced diet)
Honey bees increase our nation’s crop values each year by more than $15 billion.
Approximately ¾ of all native plants in the world require pollination by animals, most often native bees (thousands of species)

3. Overview
Existing NIFA programs supporting pollinator research, extension and education
White house memorandum June 2015
Created Pollinator Task Force
Outlined a federal strategy
Release of strategy May 19th 2015
President’s 2016 budget request for NIFA-AFRI
Involvement of extension with pollinator health programs

4. Pollinator Declines
National Academy of Sciences Study (2007) : Status of Pollinators in North America – NASS surveys and estimates of US honey bees 5.9 M in 1947 to 2.6 M in *
Colony Collapse Disorder enters the scene in Fall-2006
Overwintering losses of honey bees (HB) average 30%
*issues with accuracy of estimates due to changes in survey methods, data not collected

5. 2014-2015 Preliminary Report: Bee-informed Partnership
42.1% of the total number of HB colonies managed over the last year (total annual loss, between April 2014 and April 2015)
This represents the second highest annual loss recorded to date.

6. NIFA’s Role in Addressing Declines
CCD Action Plan released in 2007 by CCD Steering Committee (several USDA agencies and EPA)
North Central Multi-state Committee on Pollinators develop rapid response group to address CCD and other factors
New funding opportunities for research and extension use existing and new funding.

7. AFRI AFRI Foundational programs (basic research)
Two 5 yr AFRI Coordinated Agricultural Projects (approximately $10 Million total): Mainly Honey bees
Both were integrated (research and extension)
Managed Pollinator CAP
Bee Informed Partnership CAP

8. Other Existing Competitive Programs Funding Pollinator Health Projects
Agriculture Food Research Initiative (currently AFRI Foundational Programs)
Specialty Crops Research Initiative (SCRI)
Crop Protection/Pest Management (CPPM)
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)
Organic Agriculture Research and Extension (OREI)
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

9. AFRI programs with required extension component
Critical Agricultural Research and Extension - $200,000 for 3 years
AFRI Education and Literacy Initiative (formerly Fellowships Program) - Under-graduate research and extension $300,000 up to 30 students per award/2 years

10. Specialty Crop Research Initiative $49 Million FY 2015
10% must address pests and disease threats including threats to pollinators
All must include research and extension
Types of grants
CAPs
Standard Research & Extension
eXtension Communities of Practice
Research and Extension Planning Grants

11. President’s Memorandum: Creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators
office/2014/06/20/presidential-memorandum-creating- federal-strategy-promote-health-honey-b
Created a Pollinator Task Force chaired by Secretary of Agriculture and Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency with heads of 14 federal agencies.

12. Federal Strategy Includes:
Research Action Plan to focus federal efforts on understanding, preventing and recovering from pollinator losses.
Public Education Plan: expand public education programs including a coordinated public education campaign to increase public awareness of pollinators and how to protect them.
Public-Private Partnerships: Develop public-private partnerships to build on Federal efforts to encourage the protection of pollinators and increase quality and amount of habitat and forage for pollinators.

13. National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators Released May : Expand on research, education and management challenges to restore pollinators to healthy levels Address multiple factors that impact pollinators (e.g., land-use, declining forage, pests and diseases, pesticides, bee breeding bottlenecks)

14. Overall Goals
Reduce overwintering losses of honey bees by no more than 15% within 10 years
Increase monarch butterfly populations by 2020
Restore and enhance 7 million acres of pollinator habitat over 5 years

15. Pollinator Research Action Plan
Research, education and outreach plan to carry out overall goals
Best Management Practices guidance for federal buildings and natural landscapes
Identify public/private partnerships (e.g., land owners, non-profit organizations, agribusiness companies) to leverage resources

16. President’s Pollinator Health Initiative FY 2016
NIFA will establish a Pollinator Health Initiative under the [AFRI] Food Security Challenge Area and Foundational Program
Address biological, environmental and management factors that contribute to wide-scale decline of honey bees and other pollinators
Promote problem-solving partnerships between commodity groups, pollination service providers, honey producers and public and private sector researchers

17. FY 2016 NIFA President’s Budget Proposal Overall increase from $1
FY 2016 NIFA President’s Budget Proposal Overall increase from $1.4 Billion to $1.7 Billion
Increase AFRI budget from $325 Million to $450 Million
Increase SCRI from $50 to $55 Million
Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative from $18 to $20 Million
SARE $22 M (no change)
Crop Protection/Pest Management $17 M (no change)

18. Active Involvement of Extension is Critical!
Interaction with researchers (e.g., multi-state committees Honey bee, Monarch butterfly
Traditional outreach (beekeepers, commodity groups, pest control advisors, applicators, land managers
Online presence – eXtension Communities of Practice: Bee Health, Bee CAP and Bee Informed Partnership; IPM Centers, Land-Grant University websites and fact sheets...
Participation in stakeholder workshops (e.g., Nutrition and Forage and Varroa Mite Summits)

19. New North Central Multi-state Committee: Monarch Butterfly Conservation in the Midwest
Significant declines over past decade in North America
2014 USFWS petitioned to list as threatened species under Endangered Species Act
Rapid response program developed for next 2 years by North Central LGUs – research and extension
Habitat management in rural landscapes
Improve breeding success
Collaborate with US government efforts under Federal Strategy (USGS, USFWS and NRCS)

20. Questions?