Agriculture

WEST WEBER — Ron Gibson grew up to become a fifth-generation dairy farmer, and he’s raising the sixth generation now.

He’ll be raising and milking his cows with his sons as long as he can — but the way the industry has been going, it has been a stressful and uncertain time for him and many others.

MINNEAPOLIS -- In a spring ritual as old as life itself, Steve Ellis' bees return to their hives day after day loaded with pollen from the dandelions and flowering trees that are in full bloom across central Minnesota.

But for too many of them, a day of foraging ends in convulsions and death.

FARMINGTON -- Two century-old Davis County farms, roughly 70 acres of open land, are a step closer to being protected from encroaching development.

Scientists have identified a new suspect in the mysterious die-off of bees in recent years -- pesticides that appear to be lethal in indirect ways.

The chemicals, known as neonicotinoids, are designed to target a variety of sucking and chewing insects, including aphids and beetles. Bees are known to ingest the poison when they eat the pollen and nectar of treated plants, though in doses so tiny that it was not seen as a threat.

But two reports published online Thursday by the journal Science indicate that the pesticides are not altogether benign. One study found that bumblebee colonies exposed to amounts of the insecticide similar to what they'd encounter in the wild gained less total weight than colonies that weren't exposed. Another study used miniature radio frequency chips to track honeybees and found that the pesticide impaired their ability to navigate back to the hive after a feeding expedition.

FARMINGTON — The owners of two certified Utah Century Farms in Davis County are applying to a conservation board to be placed in an agricultural protection zone.

It is the first time in six years such a request has been made in Davis County.

ROY — Roy High School agriculture students are planting seeds to grow their understanding of the botanical world.

The school’s new greenhouse makes its public debut at an open house March 28, but four soil science classes already have gotten their hands dirty and learned a few life lessons.