By Andi Anderson
The Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) is encouraging farmers and agribusinesses to submit public comments supporting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) proposal to list the Monarch butterfly as a threatened species—while safeguarding key agricultural activities.
According to Laura Campbell, MFB’s senior conservation and regulatory relations specialist, “It’s important for voices from the farm and agribusiness community to speak up in support of existing Environmental Protection Agency regulations. We must continue to strike a balance—enabling growers to use essential crop protection tools while minimizing risks to pollinators, wildlife, and other natural resources.”
The FWS proposal includes exemptions critical to farming, such as livestock grazing, fence maintenance, orchard management, mowing, plowing, and conservation practices like maintaining dikes, grassed waterways, and terraces. It also allows vegetation management, including milkweed control, when Monarch butterflies are not present.
The MFB supports these exemptions and seeks further flexibility for farmers to develop new farmland and undertake activities not currently covered. Comments are due by May 19 and can be submitted through a prewritten form at bit.ly/MFBmonarch or by texting COMMENT to 855-374-5673.
MFB also urges FWS to align with the EPA’s Pesticide Strategy to ensure the safe use of herbicides and insecticides while protecting sensitive areas from drift or runoff. This collaboration would help protect Monarchs using methods already familiar to farmers.
“With these strategies in place, FWS can best protect Monarchs by leveraging systems farmers are already using to safeguard other important species,” Campbell said.
Michigan’s farmers have long played a vital role in conservation, and this initiative offers a path forward that supports both agriculture and environmental stewardship.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-zoran-zeremski
Categories: Michigan, Sustainable Agriculture