GRANTS to farmers who plant trees that support bees and other pollinators are now open through Bee Friendly Farming.
Grants of up to $10,000 are available to farmers and land managers to plant pollinator-friendly trees that are indigenous to their farms.
Chief executive Fiona Chambers says the grants and other programs give farmers resources to support them in balancing food production and ecosystem management.
“It costs money to plant trees and our land holders need a good reason to do that,” she said.
“It makes sense if you’re growing crops that need pollinators, so if you’re looking after your pollinators, it helps you increase yield.”
While bees are the focus of the grant, the whole ecosystem flourishes.
“It’s all about helping landholders to understand the little things they can do to encourage more pollinators to your landscape that then give you that added benefit for free,” Ms Chambers said.
Local farmer Simon Craig said farmers see the benefits of a local bee population when almond farmers employ apiarists.
“They import commercial bee hives to pollinate their orchards, and our yields benefit from having them around,” he said.
“If we can support the native population of flowering plants so pollinators always have a seed source even in the slow season, we can maintain our own pollinator populations.”
Keeping bees in business throughout the year is just one part of the puzzle, though.
“It’s a balancing act between managing the pests through spraying that damage our crops and supporting the native bee population and not harming them with pesticides,” Mr Craig said.
“But there are solutions, such as spraying crops at night, and only spraying when necessary.”
Ms Chambers says even farmers who have been planting trees can benefit from engaging with Bee Friendly Farming.
“You might have a tree plantation that is great for protecting the lambs or calves when they’re being born, might be great for wildlife corridors, but if you haven’t got something flowering all throughout the year it won’t necessarily support pollinator populations,” she said.
“Wild pollinators can’t always fly very far, so they need to have something flowering as much throughout the calendar year as possible, so you might be able to plant trees that flower in opposite seasons in your existing tree plantings.”
Grant applications close 5pm AEST Tuesday, September 10, 2024.
More information and grant applications are available at beefriendlyfarming.org.au/tree-grants-application
