Orchard Hedgerows for Pest Control and Pollination
WFA is pleased to release a new video resource about the benefits of hedgerows for pest control and pollination. The video is the first in a new series about natural enemy habitat on farms. This video features Juan Santana of Santana Lepe Orchards and Rachael Long, a farm advisor for UC Cooperative Extension.
Juan Santana is an almond grower who Wild Farm Alliance has been working with since 2021, when we helped him design and install his first hedgerow. He shares his experience with hedgerows and the benefits they bring. Rachael Long shares her research about hedgerows and their impact on pest control and pollination.
Read more and watch the video here
Vineyard Field Days Celebrating Pollinators and Other Beneficials
Five Wells Vineyard Field Day on May 3, 2023
13331 Alabama Rd, Galt, CA 95632
WFA joins a sustainability day hosted by Constellation Brands at Five Wells Vineyard. Learn about enhancing your vineyard for beneficial insects and birds and managing for pests using pheromone disruptors. This event is free and no registration in needed.
Click here to see the full agenda
Vineyard Field Day at Ramona Ranch on May 11, 2023
23578 Highway 78, Ramona, CA 92065
WFA partners with the RCD of Greater San Diego for an interactive field day during San Diego Pollinator Week! Teri Kerns, Co-Owner of Ramona Ranch, San Diego’s only certified Sustainable Winery, leads a vineyard tour. Other speakers, including will discuss how to support pollinators and other beneficial creatures on farms.
Registration is FREE and includes coffee and snacks, but you must register to attend. Stay afterwards for a wine tasting!
Click here to see the agenda and register
Farm Bill Advocacy Opportunities
This week offers a critical opportunity to advocate for strong, climate resilient local food systems. Congress is in the beginning stages of writing the 2023 Farm Bill. This Farm Bill, Wild Farm Alliance is calling on Congress to make climate action and local food systems a priority. The COVID-19 pandemic and recent climate events proved the importance of investing in our regional food systems to sustain jobs and ensure our communities remain fed, especially during times of crisis. Investing in climate action and our regional food systems is vital. Newly introduced legislation will help make this possible.
Local Farms & Food Act
The Local Farms and Food Act (S.1205, H.R. 2723) will make it easier for smaller-scale organizations and producers to access funding from federal programs to invest in their communities and local food systems. Specifically, the act will enhance the Local Agriculture Market Program to ensure funds can support infrastructure investments and value-chain coordination and make SNAP more accessible at farmers markets.
Show your support by signing a petition here
Agriculture Resilience Act
Farmers and ranchers need resources like funding, research and risk management to implement climate-friendly practices. The provisions and investments needed in the 2023 Farm Bill to ensure the long-term viability of our farms and food system are outlined in the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA). We need members of Congress to co-sponsor this bill.
Can you make a quick call or send an email today to your members of Congress?
Get a sample script and contact information here
Ask the Biden Administration to Protect Beavers
In February, Wild Farm Alliance joined a group of scientists, nonprofit organizations and advocates to ask President Biden to issue an executive order protecting beavers on federal public lands. Beavers improve water quality and dependability, benefiting farmers and ecosystems.
Now it's your turn! Sign on to this petition and support beavers as a nature-based climate solution that will help restore many of our streams and wetlands, and bring real, tangible benefits to our communities.
Sign petition here
Wild Sustainers Club
Thank you for being a Wild Farm Alliance supporter! Our community of wild farming advocates is helping bring nature back to thousands of farms across the country. Join the Wild Sustainers Club to see your impact go farther. A gift of $10 a month translates to 120 feet of hedgerow being planted on a farm each year to benefit birds, pollinators and other wild neighbors. New members will receive a Wild Farm Alliance embroidered hat.
We are getting closer to adding 15 new Wild Sustainer members. Please help us reach our goal. As a bonus, you will get a free organic cotton WFA hat when you sign up!
Sign Up Here
Reversing Declines in Farmland Birds: An English study of wildlife-friendly farming
In a recent Journal of Applied Ecology, researchers from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) say a more strategic approach to wildlife-friendly farming schemes is required to recover England's farmland bird populations after monitoring their responses to different agri-environment scheme implementation levels.
RSPB Conservation Scientist and lead author of the study Dr. Rob Hawkes said, "This is the first study to ask the question—How much nature-friendly farming is needed in the English landscape to recover our depleted farmland bird populations? Agri-environment schemes can only recover farmland birds if sufficient bird-friendly habitat is provided at both the farm and landscape scales. There needs to be better, more strategic, thinking when agreeing these nature-friendly packages."
Read the study here
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