Cir1426 Farmers’ Opinions about Bird Conservation and Pest Management on Organic and Conventional North Florida Farms 1 Susan K. Jacobson, Kathryn E. Sieving, Greg Jones, John McElroy, Beida Chen, Mark E. Hostetler, Sarah W. Miller 2 1. This document is Cir1426, one of a series of the Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date July 2002. Reviewed September 2006. Revised April 2013. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ul.edu. 2. Susan K. Jacobson, professor; Kathryn E. Sieving, professor; Greg Jones, John McElroy, Beida Chen, Mark E. Hostetler, Associate professor; Sarah W. Miller, Dept. of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation; Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-0440, USA The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or ailiations. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A&M University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place , Dean Over 9.2 million acres of land are farmed in Florida. Farm- ers produced crops worth $2 billion in 2007 (USDA 2009). With increasing population and development in Florida, agricultural lands also are becoming valuable wildlife habitat. Farm management could help increase wildlife numbers and diversity, especially for birds. Not only might farms beneit birds, but also birds might aid farmers. Insect- eating birds could help lower insect pest populations on farms. hus, bird-friendly farming practices are of interest to farmers, biologists, consumers, and politicians. Farms can provide good habitat for birds. However, some practices used by conventional farmers do not help sustain birds. hese include increased use of pesticides and herbi- cides, and a shit toward specializing in one or a few crops. In contrast, organic agriculture in Florida includes certiica- tion that farmland has been free of synthetic pesticides for 3 years. Organic farms rely on biological interactions for pest control (called Integrated Pest Management, or IPM). Organic farmers usually grow many diferent crops. he Florida Certiied Organic Growers and Consumers Inc. must approve a management plan for each organic farm. Despite these diferences, both farm types could be managed to enhance bird habitat (Figure 1). Certain farm practices could help promote bird diversity. One strategy is to reduce pesticide use. While studies have shown bird species richness and abundance are higher on organic farms than conventional farms, farm management is not considered the ultimate factor in determining bird com- munities on farms (Geiger, 2010). Another strategy is to increase the number of diferent types of plants on a farm (Figure 2). Jones et al., (2005) showed that bird species’ richness correlates with crop diversity and Geiger (2010) Figure 1. Farms can provide good habitat for birds as long as certain practices are adopted. Credits: Eric Zamora