Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Thursday 2 augusT 2018
A makeover for milkweed, for the sake of butterflies

By CALVIN WOODWARD The ecological and eco-
Associated Press nomic promise of milkweed
QUEBEC CITY (AP) — For prompted Roger Rainville
generations, North Ameri- to convert 50 prime acres
can farmers have despised of his farm lining the Cana-
milkweed and done their dian border to milkweed
best to rid their lands of it. several years ago.
"I hate to have milkweed "This was a whole field, from
in my strawberry field," Na- here to the woods, of just
thalie Leonard says from beautiful alfalfa," he said,
her farm by the Quebec vil- gesturing over the dense
lage of Lac-du-Cerf. green crop of purple-flow-
So why does she have 60 ered milkweed, 3 miles (5
acres of milkweed grow- km) north of Alburgh, Ver-
ing on purpose? It's for the mont, as he awaited the
sake of butterflies — the monarchs on their northern
iconic monarchs. And for summer migration.
a chance to turn milkweed "You get along roadsides
into profit. and there's not much fer-
"Every weed," she says, "is tility there. I tell farmers, if
only a weed because it's in you're going to grow this, if
the wrong place." Leonard you try something new, do
and her partners in Monark, it on your best soil," he said.
a co-operative of farmers Farmers from across the U.S.
through Quebec and into In this July 22, 2012, file photo, a Monarch butterfly eats nectar from a swamp milkweed on the call him to ask how to get
Vermont, hope milkweed shore of Rock Lake in Pequot Lakes, Minn. going with milkweed.
now has found its rightful Associated Press At Rainville's farm, Darby
place in their fields. or more apiece. The Ca- feed on milky secretions farmlands, a sign of sloppy waded into waist-high
Intrigued by the notion of nadian Coast Guard tried from the leaves. Milkweed maintenance. milkweed, bending to sniff
helping to restore the sink- milkweed garb and liked it. has been in rapid retreat, "Oh gosh, here's another tightly knit flowers that she
ing population of monarch And as a side benefit, the crowded by urban devel- one of those people with likened to lilacs. The ugly-
butterflies — and persuad- distinctive honey from milk- opment, attacked along some crazy idea and he duckling weed was looking
ed by the stirrings of a new weed fields is prized. roadways, and driven from wants farmers to grow milk- handsome and smelling
market — these farmers Yet the company formed pastoral landscapes by weed!" she remembered fine.
began clearing land or rip- to process and market the herbicides that spare resis- thinking. "But I listened." "What better opportunity to
ping out cash crops and fiber collapsed last year, tant corn and soybeans. After learning that hun- preserve an insect that's just
turning precious acres over forcing the farmers who A ritual of autumn — crack- dreds of Quebec acres so dearly loved by so many
to a plant they'd previously grow it to step in and try ing the dry pods to watch were already under milk- people, so globally known,"
seen as a nuisance. to make a go of the whole the seed-bearing white weed production, she Darby said, "but also seeing
The milkweed makeover milkweed initiative. They're fluff escape and catch the reached out to farmers in it come together with agri-
began when researchers on track for perhaps their winds — has faded. Vermont whom she consid- culture in such a beneficial
in Quebec transformed best harvest in the five or so But in recent years, as the ered innovators — people way."
the plant's silky fibers into a years since the milkweed plight of the monarchs be- who would "want to listen, It takes two or three years
high-end insulation mate- experiment began, but came more pronounced, wouldn't laugh too hard, after planting for milkweed
rial for winter clothing and where the fiber will go after communities, schools and might try it out." Now, more to flower and produce the
advanced other commer- the fall is uncertain. gardeners began plant- than 100 farmers in Que- pods bursting with fluff.
cial uses for it, like sound The orange and black ing patches of milkweed bec and about a half doz- Once established, they
insulation and absorption monarchs are wholly de- along roads and public en in Vermont are produc- can be irrepressible.On her
for oil spills. Winter coats pendent on milkweed. The buildings and in backyards ing milkweed for Monark, Lac-du-Cerf farm, Leonard
stuffed with milkweed fiber plant is the only host for their to give the butterfly a fight- of which Nathalie Leonard will have her first harvest this
reached outdoor retail- eggs and sole sustenance ing chance. A 2017 study serves as president. autumn, her second year
ers in 2016, fetching $800 for the caterpillars, which at the University of Guelph THE PLANT after planting. q
in Ontario found there's
nothing more effective in
this effort than the all-you-
can-eat buffet of a farmer's
field of milkweed — visible
from the sky, rooted in rich
soil, and isolated from traf-
fic and pollution.
When University of Vermont
agronomist Heather Darby
first heard of Quebec's ini-
tiative, from a man who
called looking for Vermont
farmers to join, she was
thrown. Milkweed is toxic
to livestock — one study
This June 22, 2018 photo shows Milkweed is in full flower on says it gives cows "pro- This June 22, 2018 photo shows University of Vermont agricul-
Roger Rainville's farm along the Canadian border in Alburgh, found depression" on the tural researcher Heather Darby and Vermont farmer Roger
Vt. rare chance they eat it. It's Rainville waist-deep in a field of milkweed, in Alburgh, Vt.
Associated Press been a mark of shame on Associated Press