Using Planting Dates to Balance Yield and Pollinator Friendliness of Oilseed Crops.

Recent decline in pollinator health has prompted a call for increased pollinator habitat. In agriculturally intensive landscapes this can be achieved by assimilation of mass flowering, pollinator friendly, alternative oilseed crops into current agricultural rotations. Camelina, canola, flax, crambe, echium, borage, sunflower, calendula, and cuphea crops were grown in Morris, MN in the summer of 2013 and 2014. Many of these crops are new to the upper Midwest and best management practices both for agronomic production as well as entomological value need to be determined. Crops were planted on three dates from May to July and evaluated for flowering time, insect visitation, and seed yield. Planting date significantly impacted the anthesis period of all crops. Yield varied across planting dates, with some crops having high yield across multiple planting dates. For these crops there can be flexibility in planting date, allowing the farmer more freedom in his rotations. Similarly, for some crops insect visitation varied with planting date as the flowering period shifted and different insect communities were present in the landscape. Each of the nine crops in this study demonstrate an ability to be incorporated into current agronomic rotations and to be attractive to a diverse community of flower visiting insects such as pollinators and the predators and parasitoids of pest insects.