Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Natural Habitat Around Farms a Win for Strawberry Growers, Birds and Consumers

Natural Habitat Around Farms a Win for Strawberry Growers, Birds and Consumers

Conserving natural habitat around strawberry fields can help protect growers’ yields, their bottom line and the environment with no detectable threat to food safety, indicates a study led by the University of California, Davis.

In the study, published in the journal Ecological Applications, researchers conducted grower surveys and experiments at 20 strawberry farms stretching between Santa Cruz, Watsonville, and Salinas on California’s Central Coast,  a region that produces 43 percent of the nation’s strawberries.

“Our results indicate that strawberry farmers are better off with natural habitat around their farms than without it,” said lead author Elissa Olimpi, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Daniel Karp, assistant professor with the UC Davis Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology.

The study was funded by a grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Read the full UC Davis article.

 
Farm Bill Priority Areas
Plant health, production, and products
Bioenergy, natural resources, and environment
Food Safety, Nutrition, and Health
Agriculture economics and rural communities
U.S. States and Territories
California

Your feedback is important to us.

Take the Website Survey