Unhappy with the expense of spraying crops with a rig, an N.C. farmer turned to drones. Now he builds them.

Drones can spray hundreds of acres without damaging
crops. (Revolution Drones photo via Farm Journal)

As farmers search for every penny in savings, using drones to spray crops is a viable way for them to increase yields, reduce machinery wear and tear, and save on fuel costs, reports Chris Bennett of Farm Journal.

North Carolina farmer Russell Hedrick has been using drone-spraying since 2021. He started experimenting with drones to lessen the damage a rig does to his crops, and the cost of running the rig does to his budget. He now operates his own drone company, Revolution Drones, that produces drones especially built for American farmers.

"If a farmer with 6,000 acres of soybeans runs a ground rig just twice, and loses 1.5 bushels per acre in damage, the cost is $90,000," Hedrick told Bennett. If that same farmer invests in drone spraying 750 acres a day at a cost of roughly $51,000, it'll take eight days to spray the crop and prevent $90,000 in crop damage.

Hedrick explained, "That farmer paid for his drone in eight days and still had $39,000 left in savings. . . .This is a game-changer like nothing else out there, and its impact is only just starting to be realized."

Russell Hedrick is a North Carolina farmer and innovator.
(Courtesy photo via Farm Journal)

Hedrick didn't set out to build his own drones, but he kept running into the same issue -- all the drones he used were built in China and built for the way Chinese farmers work their land. He told Bennett, "They don’t know how we farm in America, and don’t understand the vastness of our fields and the necessity to cover hundreds or thousands of acres in (a) day in a timely manner."

After considering his options, Hedrick decided to build his own drones. Bennett writes, "Farm innovator to the core, Hedrick already had access to software production through co-ownership of Soil Regen. He partnered with Gteex Drones in Brazil, another farmer-led business."

"Drone utilization in agriculture is about to go nuclear, far beyond present use, Hedrick insists. Why? Simple economics," Bennett reports. "Agriculture, Hedrick believes, is at the get-go of historic technology change, echoing the breakthroughs of yesteryear, whether steel plow or mechanization."

Cotton field project helps farmers and students learn how to outsmart bugs while saving money and time

Pests are identified by AI as they fly through a light sensor
inside this trap. (Photo by D. Mcgee via The Conversation)

Researchers working to introduce precision agriculture practices to farmers and agriculture students made progress during their recent project, in which AI was deployed to outsmart cotton-eating bugs in Jenkins County, Georgia.

Jenkins County, with a population of roughly 8,700, is "among the top 25 cotton-growing counties in the state," write Debra Lam, Atin Adhikari and James E. Thomas for The Conversation. The area's farmers rely heavily on expensive pesticides to defeat "stink bugs, cotton bollworms, corn earworms, tarnished plant bugs and aphids."

The project aimed to help farmers determine when to spray their crops by combining "AI-based early pest detection methods with existing integrated pest management practices and the Georgia Cotton Insect Advisor app," according to the report. By integrating those tools, researchers learned how to "improve pest detection, decrease pesticide exposure levels and reduce insecticide use."

The project's outcome demonstrated that AI tools could reliably predict where and when pest infestations would occur, providing farmers with the knowledge they need to save money and labor costs by applying pesticides only where and when necessary.

Through the use of AI sensors, the research provided farmers with practical and intuitive ways to plan and protect their crops. According to the report, "Even after the sensors are gone, farmers who used them become better at spotting pests. . . . AI dashboards and mobile apps help them see how pest populations grow over time and respond to different field conditions."

The project was part of Georgia's ongoing effort to train more farmers and students on how to integrate precision agriculture into their farming or pest management practices. According to The Conversation's report, "The same tools could help local governments manage mosquitoes and ticks and open up more agtech innovations." 

Helping to save the world might start with inviting bugs back; they've got a lot to offer

Praying mantes are farmers' little helper.
(Photo by Rosie Kerr, Unsplash)

Entomologists appreciate all sorts of insects, and in his opinion for The Washington Post, Dana Milbank encourages all humans to give bugs some love because they are vital to the food chain and human survival. He notes that when insects are allowed to be in their natural habitats, bugs that bite, bite less:

"Here, in the mountains, I walk the fields and putter about in the woods without wearing my usual Eau de DEET, and yet the mosquitoes do not feast. I sit on the porch at dusk, baring my arms to all comers — and not so much as a nibble. . . . It isn’t my imagination. Entomologists tell me this is part of a worldwide phenomenon. We’ve worked so hard to banish bugs from our lives—destroying their habitats with pavement and lawns, killing them with insecticides and stressing them with climate change—that our cities and suburbs are now insect wastelands but for a few hardy pest species, such as the disease-carrying mosquitoes that feed on the blood of people and pets.

"In the country, by contrast, the ecosystem is in better balance. There are actually more mosquitoes here, but a smaller proportion of them dine on human blood and carry disease. Competition with other insects keeps their numbers in check, and the other abundant species in the ecosystem — spiders, frogs, fish and bird—gobble up the mosquitoes. In other words, the problem isn’t that we have too many bugs in cities and suburbs; the problem is that we don’t have nearly enough."

The world, not just humans, needs insects to survive.
(Photo by Europeana, Unsplash)

Millbank writes, "Multiple studies show that the overall insect population is declining by one percent to two percent per year, which means losing perhaps a third of all insects on the planet within 20 years—moving us toward what’s often called an ‘insect apocalypse.’ . . . If this mass extinction of insects isn’t reversed, it will decimate the entire food chain, threaten crop pollination and generally cause havoc.

"Agricultural pesticides are a big problem, but there’s some evidence that we use even more insecticide per acre in cities and suburbs. In the sterile environment we’ve created, a few nasty species flourish, such as the tree-devouring spongy (formerly gypsy) moth, the crop-destroying spotted lanternfly, the domestic cockroach, the bloodsucking mosquito. . . . Luckily, the insect apocalypse is relatively easy to reverse compared with other anthropomorphic disasters. And unlike climate change, you can quickly make a noticeable improvement in your backyard, or even on your apartment balcony. You simply need to invite bugs back into your life. They’ll quickly accept. As a bonus, you’ll also wind up with more songbirds — and you just might save the planet."

Moving to the country can mean having to deal with snakes; the key seems to be eliminating their main prey: mice

A rattlesnake (Photo by Meg Jerrard, Unsplash)

If you move from the city to the country, there are fewer people and a lot more animals; your rural happiness may depend on the kind of animals that decide to live around and in your new country home. Columnist Dana Milbank of The Washington Post writes how he and his wife moved to rural Virginia and discovered the tenacity of snakes as roommates: "There were no two ways about it. We were dealing with some real snakes. We found six snakeskins in the basement. We found 23 snakeskins in the attic — including one that was 6 feet long. Worse, one of the skins in the attic had belonged to a copperhead, a venomous pit viper whose bite is certain to ruin your day. . . . As a political reporter, I’ve observed plenty of snakes over my career. But out in the country, people actually like the critters. My neighbors informed me that common black snakes were a sign of good fortune."

Getting used to more 'critters' was one thing, getting rid of the snakes was the sticky wicket. Milbank asked Daniel Frank, director of Virginia Tech’s pesticide programs, "what to do about his snakes, mice and sundry insects. The first step after identifying and monitoring the critters, Frank told Milbank is that of 'determining thresholds.' In other words, decide 'what amount of damage or pest population you can live with'."

That was easy for Milbank, who writes, "When it comes to venomous copperheads in my house, I have calculated my threshold tolerance, and it is exactly zero. When it comes to harmless but 6-foot-long black snakes in my house, my tolerance is not much higher than zero."

Frank told Milbank not to waste his time "with electronic deterrents or herbal remedies. It isn’t practical to trap them, and it isn’t humane to kill them. The way to make the snakes vacate was to evict the mice," Milbank reports.

Tony Sfreddo, a director of the Virginia Pest Management Association, toured Milbank's house and had this to share: “I’ve seen worse." Sfreddo also suggested how to take care of randomly roaming snakes by "putting a wet towel on the floor, wait for the snake to wrap itself in the towel and then remove it," Milbank writes. "If I find a snake in my bedroom, I will immediately sign the deed of trust over to the squatting reptile and flee to the city — never to leave its concrete cocoon again."

White-nose syndrome has nearly wiped out northern long-eared bats, so feds move to declare them endangered

Northern long-eared bat
(Photo by John MacGregor)

"Fifteen years after its was first discovered in a New York cave, white-nose syndrome has decimated the nation’s population of northern long-eared bats, reducing their numbers to almost nothing," Darryl Fears reports for The Washington Post. "On Tuesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service moved to reclassify the mammals from threatened to endangered after a review found that 'white-nose syndrome is expected to affect 100 percent” of the animals by 2025.'" The disease has already killed off an estimated 97% of northern long-eared bats, and has infected more than half of the 47 bat species in North America.

As an endangered species, northern long-eared bats will get federal protections they didn't get as a threatened species. "Fish and Wildlife said it is leading a white-nose syndrome national response team of 150 nongovernmental organizations, tribes, states, federal agencies and other institutions to fight the problem," Fears writes. Though the agency said the effort has yielded critical scientific advancements, Fears reports that 15 years of research has produced limited success.

Approximate range of the northern long-eared bat
(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service map)

However, Fears notes, scientists did make a promising discovery in 2018: ultraviolet light appears to kill the fungus that causes the disease, attacking bats as they hibernate.

Northern long-eared bats are found in 37 states, Washington, D.C., and every Canadian province. They and many other bat species pollinate flowers and feed on pests that damage crops. According to Fish and Wildlife, bats contribute at least $3 billion to the U.S. agriculture sector each year. The agency will hold a virtual public meeting from 7 to 8:30 p.m. ET April 7 to discuss the impact of the proposed reclassification, Fears reports.

Quick hits: EPA weighs ban of chlorpyrifos pesticide; scientists say invasive insects could increase 36% by 2050

Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email us at heather.chapman@uky.edu.

Non-native insect invasions are projected to increase by 36% between 2005 and 2050, an international team of scientists predicts. Read more here.

The Environmental Protection Agency is weighing whether to ban chlorpyrifos, a pesticide linked to brain damage in children, but says science that finds it dangerous is inconclusive. Read more here.

A new book chronicles the forces that shape agriculture in the era of climate change. Read more here.

A church leader writes about how to respond when a fellow Christian turns to him for help with an opioid addiction. Read more here.

Glyphosate (Roundup) use soars in recent decades, especially in Midwest, as weeds grow more resistant

Glyphosate use in the U.S. Click the image to enlarge it, or click here for the interactive version.
(Map by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting)

Nationwide use of the controversial pesticide glyphosate has skyrocketed over the past 30 years, even as it becomes less effective against weeds and is increasingly the target of health-related lawsuits. According to U.S. Geological Survey estimates, use of glyphosate on crops rose from 13.9 million pounds in 1992 to 287 million pounds in 2016. Glyphosate is the main ingredient in Roundup.

"A review of the agency’s data by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting shows that farmers across the Midwest used an estimated 188.7 million pounds of glyphosate in 2016 – nearly 40 times more than in 1992 when they used a total of 4.6 million pounds. The data for the year 2016 is the latest available," Christopher Walljasper and Ramiro Ferrando report for the center. "Farmers in those 12 states – including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska – grow most of the country’s soybean and corn crops. Glyphosate is now the primary way farmers manage weeds that would otherwise reduce the amount of grain they can produce. The Midwest accounts for 65 percent of the nation’s use of glyphosate for crops, according to the center’s analysis."

Monsanto, now owned by Bayer, introduced glyphosate in 1974, but the pesticide became much more popular after Monsanto began selling genetically modified Roundup-resistant seeds. Usage increased even more in 2000 after the patent expired and other companies could sell it. There were at least 40 generic glyphosate-based herbicides on the market by 2007, Walljasper and Ferrando report.

However, as weeds evolved to resist glyphosate, farmers have had to use more of it. James Benham, a longtime farmer in southeastern Indiana, told the center that farmers are in a tough place financially because they have to spend more money on seed and chemicals without seeing more profit. "Sometimes if you timed it just right, you could get away with just one spraying. Now we’re spraying as often as three or four times a year," Benham said. "That puts the farmer in that much more of a crisis mode. Can’t do without it, can’t hardly live with it."

EPA ordered to decide whether to ban chlorpyrifos for good

A federal appeals court has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to make a final decision within 90 days on whether it will ban a popular pesticide linked to developmental disorders in children. Last year the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit "ordered the EPA to remove chlorpyrifos from use within 60 days of an August ruling, ending what would have been a decade-long fight by health advocates to ban the substance," Miranda Green reports for The Hill. "However, the Trump administration promptly appealed that ruling, and the court agreed to rehear the case." It ruled Friday.

Chlorpyrifos was first developed in World War II for use in chemical warfare, but has been used for years on crops such as strawberries, oranges, corn and wheat. The EPA banned it for residential use in 2001 and proposed a total ban during President Obama's tenure, but Scott Pruitt, President Trump's first EPA administrator, reversed that order. Pruitt wrote that the science linking chlorpyrifos to neurological effects in children was "unresolved" and that further study was necessary, Green reports.

In the weeks leading up to Pruitt's decision, he secretly promised farm lobbies that he was listening to their concerns, according to internal documents obtained by The New York Times. Pesticide makers also lobbied Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, then the deputy secretary, to block a 2017 study that could have led to tighter restrictions on two pesticides. The Fish and Wildlife Service study found that chlorpyrifos and malathion were so toxic that they threatened the existence of more than 1,200 endangered species.

2017 Ag Census shows big shift in vegetable cultivation

What's hot and what's not in vegetables. (Washington
Post chart; click on the image to enlarge it.)

The recently released 2017 Census of Agriculture reveals a shift in which vegetables American farmers are growing. In many cases, "Vegetables that may once have been dismissed as fads or trends are reshaping America’s agricultural landscape," Laura Reiley and Andrew Van Dam report for The Washington Post. "Farmers are abandoning one-time basics such as sweet corn, green beans, peas and potatoes. In their place, they’re planting sweet potatoes and leafy greens such as spinach, kale and romaine lettuce."

The increasing prevalence of lower-carbohydrate and low glycemic-load diets, such as South Beach, Atkins, Paleo and others, has made sweet potatoes far more popular in the past five years and decreased the popularity of high-carbohydrate crops like potatoes. "Cultivation of sweet potatoes increased by 47,257 acres or 37.6 percent from 2012 to 2017, by far the biggest jump of any vegetable crop," Reiley and Van Dam report. "It’s more than the next two fastest-growing crops, romaine lettuce (up 22,780 acres) and spinach (up 23,592 acres), combined."

Sweet corn, on the other hand, lost 75,972 acres in the past five years -- a 13.3 percent decrease for the nation's second most-planted vegetable. Hank Scott, whose company Long and Scott produces Zellwood sweet corn in Mount Dora, Fla., told the Post that farmers are reconsidering planting sweet corn because the cost of farming is increasing, and farmers are under a lot of pressure to ward off diseases and produce the perfect corn that many buyers demand.

Scott said "stores such as Walmart are putting family farms out of business not just by playing hardball on prices but also by demanding year-round contracts," Reiley and Van Dam report. "If a family farmer wants a contract with a big supplier but doesn’t produce corn all year long, they’re responsible for buying another producer’s corn to cover the grocery behemoth’s supply chain during their off season."

Green beans, peas and lima bean production fell most in places where local growers usually process them for canning and freezing. That's because American consumers increasingly prefer fresh vegetables instead of frozen and canned, which has led many processing plants to close. That has forced some farmers to reduce or stop growing some crops like lima beans that are too perishable to sell fresh on a wide scale, Reiley and Van Dam report. Black-eyed pea cultivation fell mostly because it's getting harder and hard to control the weeds and bugs that choke off the plants' growth.

Feds reconsider explosive cyanide devices used to kill coyotes after Idaho teen poisoned and dog dies

Federal officials are considering whether to ban the explosive cyanide devices used to kill coyotes and foxes, one year after a Pocatello, Idaho, teenage boy was sickened and his dog died from accidentally setting off one of the M-44 "bombs". "In February, a coalition of environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, forced the Department of Agriculture to ask the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate whether the devices should be banned," Trevor Hughes reports for USA Today.

Environmental groups have long opposed M-44s, saying they could accidentally kill endangered species. Farmers and ranchers generally support M-44s, saying they're an inexpensive way to kill predators. "A 2015 federal survey concluded that predators, including foxes and coyotes, killed $32 million worth of sheep, $18 million worth of goats and nearly $60 million worth of cattle in a single year," Hughes reports. Chase Adams, a spokesman for the American Sheep Industry Association, told Hughes that some ranchers lost 30 percent of their flocks in 2017 after M-44s were temporarily banned because of the Idaho case.

M-44s are still banned in Idaho because of that incident, and they're also forbidden in Colorado and Northern California. But the devices are legal on other federal lands, as well as state lands in Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, Texas and South Dakota. Sixteen states use them, including Virginia and West Virginia, Hughes reports. The USDA's agreement with environmental groups gives the federal government until Dec. 31, 2021 to decide whether M-44s should be legal, and allows the continued use of the bombs until then.

UV light kills bat-killing fungus; research continues

A brown bat suffering from white-nose
syndrome. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service photo)

Bats decimated by white-nose syndrome could one day be saved by ultraviolet light, a study suggests. "Scientists from the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of New Hampshire have discovered that UV light kills the fungus that is responsible for the precipitous declines over the last decade of many bat species in 33 states" and two Canadian provinces, Don Hopey reports for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The fungus infects hibernating bats, causing them to use twice as much energy to maintain bodily functions, which makes them burn through body fat and die of starvation. It can also kill infected bats when they become so uncomfortable from the disease that they wake up and venture outside into the cold before succumbing to the elements. The Forest Service recently declared white-nose "the most catastrophic wildlife disease of the century," Hopey notes.

“This research has tremendous implications for bats and people,” Forest Service researcher Tony Ferguson told Hopey. A UV cure would be a boon to agriculture, or at least the prevention of a bane, since bats help with pollination, seed dispersal and insect control. "According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, bats eat enough insects to save U.S. corn growers more than $1 billion a year in crop damage, and all farmers more than $3 billion," Hopey notes.

"The Forest Service has already started a follow-up study with researchers at Bucknell University in Lewistown, Union County, Pa., to determine if and how UV light can be used to treat bats," Hopey reports. The study "will measure the survival of 45 little brown bats from Wisconsin with white-nose syndrome that have been shipped to artificial hibernation chambers at Bucknell and treated with UV light." The fungus has killed almost all the little brown and northern long-eared bats in Pennsylvania; here's a Post-Gazette chart showing its impact in the state:

New soybean cultivar expands growing range and season, resists soybean cyst nematodes

Researchers at Clemson University have developed and released a new soybean cultivar that will extend the soybean planting season and expand southward the regions where it's possible to profitably grow soybeans. It is also resistant to soybean cyst nematodes, which are the primary pest of soybeans.

"The Agustina soybean cultivar was developed and released by soybean breeders Benjamin Fallen and Emerson Shipe. Fallen said this cultivar possesses the long juvenile (LJ) trait which gives it the ability to produce high yields even when days get shorter and daylight hours are fewer. The LJ trait also allows the Agustina soybean to be grown in regions not suited for most existing soybean cultivars," Morning Ag Clips reports.

Most soybeans in the U.S. grow between 35 and 45 degrees north, roughly from Arkansas to Minnesota. But Agustina performs best from 22 to 29 degrees north, and performed well in tests even as far south as Tampico, Mexico.

Agustina seed will be sold commercially in the U.S. and Mexico beginning in the spring of 2018.

Soybean cyst nematode distribution. University of Kentucky Plant Pathology map; click on the image to enlarge it.

Air Force spraying insecticide over 6 million acres in Texas to combat post-Harvey mosquitoes

Texas is using huge U.S. Air Force planes to spray 6 million acres for mosquitoes breeding in the standing water left by Hurricane Harvey.

Devika Krishna Kumar reports for Reuters, "C-130 cargo planes began spraying insecticides over three eastern Texas counties over the weekend and will expand to other areas over the next two weeks, officials from the Texas Department of State Health Services said. . . . Most mosquitoes that appear after floods are not the disease-carrying varieties but can hurt recovery operations by swarming residents and disaster workers during cleanup efforts."

The spraying is using naled, an insecticide banned in the European Union but commonly used in the U.S. and supported by American health officials. "Both the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stand behind naled, saying the small amount of the insecticide sprayed from planes doesn’t expose people enough to pose a health concern," Zoe Schlanger of Quartz writes for Route Fifty. "The chemical has caused controversy in recent years. In 2016, naled spraying inadvertently caused millions of honeybee deaths in South Carolina."

Budget could cut white-nose syndrome research

Bat with white-nose syndrome (New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation photo)

The fight to eradicate white-nose syndrome in bats may suffer a setback if proposed federal budget cuts become a reality. Scientists estimate that more than 6 million U.S. bats died from the syndrome between 2006 and 2012, and many more have died since then, Michael Doyle reports for Environment & Energy News. Bats occupy an important place in the ecosystem, as predators of mosquitoes and insects that harm crops, so scientists are scrambling to find a way to combat the disease. One way the federal government has done that is by awarding grants to promising research into methods of killing the disease without killing the bats, as well as to scientists doing general research on bats.

The latest round of Fish and Wildlife Service grant funding came from the agency's "Science Support" fund, which the Trump administration has proposed eliminating in the Interior Department's 2018 budget, Doyle reports. FWS distributed more than $1 million in bat-related research grants last month to scientists in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Research is also conducted by the wildlife program of the U.S. Geological Survey, but the administration is proposing a 22 percent cut in that fund for next year. The USGS has contributed valuable information to the battle against white-nose syndrome; several weeks ago its researchers found that the fungus that causes it can spread in warm as well as cool weather. The administration is proposing an 11 percent cut in funding for the National Science Foundation, which funds research grants on white-nose syndrome. An NSF summary says University of Georgia researchers are using "computational tools from mathematics, computer science, epidemiology and ecology to understand and predict the spread of [the] devastating disease," Doyle reports.

Congress has ignored some of President Trump's previous attempts to cut science funding, but the affected government agencies aren't taking any chances. In response to the threat of reduced or eliminated funding, some of the agencies are pooling research funds with each other and seeking contributions from private entities. The Bats for the Future Fund was established and mostly funded by FWS and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, but has also received funding from the U.S. Forest Service and Shell Oil Co. Research project funding is to be announced Sept. 22.

Cities in Midwest come to rescue of bats threatened by fungus in rural areas but not in cities

Ten cities across the Midwest are coming to the rescue of rural bat populations that are being killed off by white-nose syndrome, a disease caused by a fungus in the caves where they hibernate. Just one example: In the mountains of North Carolina, nine of the state's 17 species have been decimated. "Since 2006, white-nose syndrome has been found in 31 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces, killing millions of bats," Nick Wilson reports for the region's Mountain Xpress.

A big brown bat at the Bat Zone in
Pontiac. Detroit Free Press photo)

Bats play an important role in local ecosystems. They pollinate crops, disperse seeds, and keep down the insect population, notes mammalogist Katherine Caldwell of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that losing bats from the ecosystem could cost North American agriculture more than $3.7 billion per year.

The white-nose fungus kills bats in two ways: one direct, and one indirect. The direct way: when the fungus grows on bats while they're hibernating, it causes them to use twice as much energy as normal to maintain bodily functions. Bats must ration their energy carefully to make it to spring without eating, so the fungus can be fatal. The indirect way: the fungus irritates the bats so much that sometimes they wake up and leave the cave in the middle of the winter. The disoriented bats often starve.

Bats that roost in urban buildings are typically not affected by the fungus, so the Midwestern cities are giving rural bats a home. In Michigan, some bats that wandered away from their caves in winter have ended up in downtown Pontiac. The Organization for Bat Conservation is welcoming them with Bat Zone, a 10,000 square-foot center for preservation and education, John Wisely reports for the Detroit Free Press. He says it's part of an effort in "10 cities around the Midwest" but doesn't name them. We're asking around.

Insecticide sprayed from air to fight Zika, without direct warning to beekeepers, kills many S.C. bees

Photo posted by Flowertown Bee and Farm Supplies

Millions of bees have been killed in Dorchester County, South Carolina, with an insecticide used to kill mosquitoes potentially carrying the Zika virus, Ben Guarino reports for The Washington Post. Beekeeper Juanita Stanley, co-owner of a bee farm that lost 46 hives—or 2.5 million bees—told reporters her farm “looks like it’s been nuked.”

Guarino writes, "In parts of South Carolina, trucks trailing pesticide clouds are not an unusual sight, thanks to a mosquito-control program that also includes destroying larvae. Given the current concerns of West Nile virus and Zika—there are several dozen cases of travel-related Zika in South Carolina, though the state health department reports no one has yet acquired the disease from a local mosquito bite—Dorchester decided to try something different Sunday."

"It marked a departure from Dorchester County’s usual ground-based efforts," Guarino writes. "For the first time, an airplane dispensed Naled in a fine mist, raining insect death from above between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Sunday. The county says it provided plenty of warning, spreading word about the pesticide plane via a newspaper announcement Friday and a Facebook post Saturday."

But after the bees perished, county officials apologized for that and failing to notify local beekeepers, The Associated Press reports. Bee City USA, a bee-protection group, said in a news release that it "encourages mosquito abatement districts across the country to provide beekeepers with ample notice of planned spraying so they can protect their hives as much as possible by covering them or moving them to a non-spray zone. By the same token, we encourage beekeeping chapters to meet with county officials in charge of vector control as soon as possible and each year to discuss mosquito control plans that protect pollinator health, and in the event of bee kills, how beekeepers will be compensated."

White-nose fungus in bats reported for the first time on West Coast

White nose syndrome, a disease that has killed an estimated seven million bats, has for the first time been reported on the West Coast, in North Bend, Wash., about 30 miles outside Seattle, Lewis Kamb reports The Seattle Times. "The first detection of the disease in a Western state represents 'somewhat of a game-changer,' said Jeremy Coleman of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The closest state with confirmed detection of the fungus is Nebraska, about 1,250 miles away, officials said." (Progressive Animal Welfare Society photo)

The disease, which gets its name "from the powdery, white substance that appears around muzzles, ears and wings of affected bats, has swept across 28 states and five Canadian provinces," Louis Sahagun reports for the Los Angeles Times. "White-nose syndrome has killed mostly little brown bats, which have lost more than 20 percent of their population in the northeastern U.S. over the past nine years. Mortality rates among colonies of some species in eastern states, such as northern long-eared bats, have reached 99 percent."

"Bats feast on such night-flying insects as mosquitoes, which transmit West Nile virus, and agricultural pests damaging to cotton and corn crops," Sahagun writes. "They also pollinate plants, including the saguaro cactus. The current value of pest control provided by bats each year is at least $3.7 billion nationwide."

Obama's budget would cut crop insurance, boost research and rural broadband, help bees

UPDATE, March 6: The budget proposal also includes cuts in development and housing programs, "including nearly $160 million in cuts to Water/Wastewater grants, $66 million less for Rural Business programs, and $38 million in cuts to Rural Housing programs," and $93. million in cuts to the the U.S. Department of Agriculture's poultry inspection program, reports the Daily Yonder. (Read more)

The recently passed Farm Bill increased investments in crop insurance by $5.7 billion, but President Obama's $3.9 trillion fiscal 2015 budget proposal released Tuesday calls for the program to be cut by about $14 billion over 10 years. "The bill also contains language restricting the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ability to make future budget cuts in crop insurance," reports Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter.  The government pays $3 billion per year "for the private insurance companies to administer and underwrite the program and $6 billion per year in premium subsidies to the farmers."

USDA's proposed budget of $23.7 billion in discretionary spending would be $938 million less than its current funding, but it includes more money fro rural broadband and "the creation of three agricultural research institutes dedicated to crop science, advanced bio-based manufacturing and anti-microbial resistance research," costing $75 million, Lisa Rein reports for The Washington Post.

Agri-Pulse reports the proposal also:
• Has $50 million "to enhance research through public-private grants, strengthen pollinator habitat in core areas, double the number of acres in the Conservation Reserve Program that are dedicated to pollinator health and increase funding for surveys to determine the impacts on pollinator losses."
• Has "$58 million for a new economic-development grant program designed to target small and emerging private businesses and cooperatives in rural areas."
• "Supports direct and guaranteed loans to assist 40,000 producers, 85 percent of which will be beginning farmers and ranchers and socially disadvantaged producers."
• "Provides an increase of $12 million to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program," better known as food stamps, the big-ticket item in any Farm Bill.

Agri-Pulse is subscription only, but a free trial is available by clicking here. To read a statement by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on the budget proposal, click here.

White-nose fungus reported in Minnesota bats

White-nose syndrome has been reported in Minnesota, making it the 23rd state to report the fungus, which has killed nearly 6 million bats in North America and is spreading across the nation. The fungus was found "at Forestville-Mystery Cave State Park in southeastern Minnesota and at Soudan Underground Mine State Park on the Iron Range," Elizabeth Dunbar reports for Minnesota Public Radio. (New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation photo by Al Hicks)

"Minnesota is home to at least 50,000 hibernating bats that pollinate plants and help control insects that feed on farm crops and trees in Minnesota's forests," Dunbar reports. Gerda Nordquist, a mammalogist for the Minnesota Biological Survey, told Dunbar,  that a decline in bat populations could lead to problems with pest control in the state.

"Officials said the good news is that the fungus has only been found in four bats -- three little brown bats and one northern long-eared bat. It wasn't detected on any cave walls," Dunbar reports. "But the disease can spread easily from bat to bat, and the animals can fly over 200 miles. Officials said the closest sites where the disease has been found are in Ontario and Illinois. Because the fungus was also found in Iowa, it's possible that Minnesota bats mixed with infected bats." (Read more)

Common use of genetically modified crops leading to rise in pesticide, herbicide use

Use of genetically modified crops has become commonplace in agriculture, but has led to an increase in use of pesticides and herbicides, according to a new study. Weeds and pests have have adapted to the modified crops and become resistant to the chemicals used to protect them, so farmers have been forced to spray crops with increasing amounts of the chemicals. The use of pesticides increased by 404 million pounds from 1996 to 2011. Herbicide use increased by 527 million pounds, and insecticide use by 123 million pounds.

Charles Benbrook, lead author of the Washington State University study, said it "undermines the value of both herbicide-tolerant crops and insect-protected crops," Carey Gillam of Reuters reports. Monsanto's Roundup Ready seeds were a hit with farmers, who enjoyed the benefits of being able to spray their entire crop, killing weeds and bugs without hurting their crops. However, more than two dozen weed species have become resistant to Roundup.

The amount of herbicide needed to fight "superweeds" is increasing by about 25 percent every year, Benbrook said. The annual increase has risen to 90 million pounds in 2011, up from 1.5 million in 1990. Insecticide use dropped 28 percent from 1996 to 2011, but is now rising, Benbrook said. (Read more)