The Monarch Challenge is a research-driven initiative from BASF helping producers to protect monarch butterfly habitats.
BASF also demonstrates what it’s doing at its own sites around the US to improve monarch populations. The goal was to have 1,000 farmers sign up for the Monarch Challenge in 2019. The actual results more than doubled that at almost 2,500 participants.
Chip Schilling is Sustainability Strategy Manger for BASF. He talks about the importance of planting milkweed for monarch butterflies.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service is set to determine whether the monarch butterfly warrants Endangered Species Act protection by December of 2020. Between now and then, Schilling says BASF will be helping to reestablish more lost milkweed habitats through the Monarch Challenge.
Schilling says pollinators are vital for U.S. agriculture and the effort helps growers understand the importance of protecting habitat for pollinators.
