As part of a pollinator protection project funded by Ceres Trust, the Kansas Rural Center (KRC) and Sticky Wicket Media, produced a series of short videos aimed at increasing awareness about the harms of pesticides to pollinators and delving into strategies for minimizing pollinator loss through agriculture practices that are beneficial to pollinators. The videos will be shown at the KRC Annual Farm & Food Conference on November 8-9, 2019, in Wichita, Kansas, and are available for viewing on KRC’s website at https://kansasruralcenter.org/krc-releases-video-series-on-the-impacts-of-pesticides-on-pollinators-and-farming-methods-that-minimize-the-risk/.

The first video in the series is edited by Hank Will, Editorial Director of Mother Earth News, GRIT, Heirloom Gardener, Mother Earth Living, and Cappers’ Farmer magazines, and gives a general overview of the impacts of pesticides on pollinators.

The second video shares the story of Kansas beekeeper, Chad Gilliland, Next to Nature Farm. Gilliland is a beekeeper and former pesticide applicator who was impacted by pesticide drift when spray from a neighboring farm field wiped out a number of his honeybee colonies. Gilliland shares his story and talks about strategies for preventing pesticide damage.

The third video in the series takes a look at a Kansas farmers, Gail Fuller and Lynnette Miller, G & L Whole Food, who farm using regenerative practices which are highly beneficial to pollinators. Fuller and Miller discuss how regenerative agriculture has the potential to build community in addition to improving soil health and biology, promoting diversity, preventing erosion, and increasing the capacity for producing nutritious food and enhancing human health.

For more information contact Joanna Will at jvoigt@kansasruralcenter.org.