Regenerative Bee Pasture Principals

BGO works shoulder-to-shoulder with our ranching partners. We learn, fail, and grow as partners. Through BGO’s monitoring efforts, we work with our partners to make data-informed decisions on bee-friendly management strategies. We also work together to embrace the following principals -

  1. Create Bee Habitat

    • Experiment with new tools to improve pasture/range with flowers

      • No till seed drill

      • Roller crimper

      • Yeoman Plow

      • CurseBuster

      • Rotational / adaptive grazing

      • Range riding

    • Let your flowers bloom before you graze (be creative in your grazing plan!)

    • Train your livestock to eat a diversity of plants

    • Care for your underground livestock – balance fungi & bacteria with management and supplements (see: Nicole Masters, Integrity Soils)

    • Deeply understand the importance of plant nutrition to improve conditions for bee habitat and your crop (and bees as the agents of reproduction) (see John Kempf, Advancing Eco Agriculture)

  2. Participate in Systemic Agricultural Change

    • What specific skills can you bring to help foster change? What brings you joy? Use this simple practice to get started.

    • Ask yourself - what does your farm currently contribute to your community, your family, your environment, and your local bee population?

    • Use your voice and your position in agriculture to support good policy for ranchers and beekeepers (stronger conservation policies, social justice in ag, anti-dumping / unfair prices set by packers, etc.)

    • Recognize your importance in being part of the natural system to slow the current 6th Mass Extinction

  3. Embrace Creativity

    • Embrace the Paradigm Shift that deep regenerative ag is asking of us

    • Think about “interbeing” and what that means to you - how can you practice interbeing through agriculture

    • Expect failure

    • Accept that we are coming out of 11,000+ years of climate stability, it’s not going “back to normal”

  4. Cultivate Societal and Individual Hope

  • Engage your community by leaning on relationships and using transparency

  • See yourself as part of nature, not separate from it

  • Celebrate life-long learning – we’ll never have it all figured out

  • Sit with the grief of the heaviness of our times

  • Yet, never give up hope!

Sarah Red-LairdComment