Cotton farmers are sitting on a $500 million opportunity hiding in the field margins they usually mow down. Native bees and butterflies can increase yields by 24%—without costing a dime. This is the economic case for why conservation pays.

Learn more at : Pollinator Partnership Bee Friendly Farming

Secret Pollinators

This one is largely well-sourced. The 12–24% range and the $108/acre figure both check out.

KEY SOURCES

Texas cotton pollination

• Cusser, S., Neff, J. L., & Jha, S. (2016). Natural land cover drives pollinator abundance and richness, leading to reductions in pollen limitation in cotton agroecosystems. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 226, 33–42. DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2016.04.020 — 12 field sites across South Texas; increasing pollinator diversity could boost cotton production by up to 18%, translating to roughly $108 per acre in additional revenue and over $1.1 million annually across the South Texas region studied.
• Cusser, S., Neff, J. L., & Jha, S. (2019). Landscape context differentially drives diet breadth for two key pollinator species. Oecologia, 191(4), 873–886. DOI: 10.1007/s00442-019-04543-5
• Bhandari, K. B., et al. (2020). A Native Bee, Melissodes tepaneca (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Benefits Cotton Production. Insects, 11(8), 487. DOI: 10.3390/insects11080487 — two replicated years; whole-plant yield gains of 12.3% (2018) and 15% (2019), and up to 24% from bolls produced by flowers directly exposed to M. tepaneca; cotton pollen is large and heavy enough to require an insect courier; relatively few honey bees observed in South Texas cotton fields.

Brazil and international cotton

• Cunha, N. L., et al. (2020). Pollinator contribution to cotton production in Brazil. — increased yields from flowers exposed to pollinators versus excluded flowers.
• Stein, K., et al. (2017). Bee pollination increases yield quantity and quality of cash crops in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Scientific Reports, 7, 17691. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17970-2

Landscape context and wild pollinators

• Garibaldi, L. A., et al. (2013). Wild pollinators enhance fruit set of crops regardless of honey bee abundance. Science, 339(6127), 1608–1611. DOI: 10.1126/science.1230200
• Kremen, C., Williams, N. M., & Thorp, R. W. (2002). Crop pollination from native bees at risk from agricultural intensification. PNAS, 99(26), 16812–16816.
• Morandin, L. A., & Kremen, C. (2013). Hedgerow restoration promotes pollinator populations and exports native bees to adjacent fields. Ecological Applications, 23(4), 829–839. DOI: 10.1890/12-1051.1

Practitioner resources

• Xerces Society, Farming with Native Beneficial Insects and Organic Farming for Bees. xerces.org
• Vaughan, M., & Skinner, M. (2015). Using Farm Bill Programs for Pollinator Conservation. USDA NRCS Technical Note No. 78.

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