00:02 the monarch butterfly kind of symbolizes
00:06 conservation in general in Iowa it
00:08 there's an opportunity to provide
00:11 monarch habitat that's not only
00:13 beneficial and critical for the monarch
00:15 but it's critically important to a lot
00:17 of other wildlife species in in Iowa a
00:21 monarch conservation consortium is
00:23 really something we started talking
00:25 about back in 2013 we thought it was a
00:28 critically important issue for
00:30 agriculture and for all Iowans and so we
00:34 started bringing together agricultural
00:36 leaders in the state to say what can we
00:38 do about this issue I think they're a
00:40 signal to us about the the ecology
00:44 around us I've certainly seen the number
00:48 of mouths weeds go down and now you see
00:50 the number of monarchs also being
00:52 depleted so they're a good signal we
00:55 need to look around us and see what's
00:56 happening well they're beautiful and
00:59 they're butterflies and they're easy to
01:00 identify everybody knows them and I
01:04 think what's also amazing is how far
01:06 they might reach even the caterpillar
01:08 has some character to it that it kind of
01:13 develops a little attitude and it's a
01:17 fun one to grow it grows quickly and
01:19 kids like to watch it grow adults like
01:21 to watch it grow and they're just
01:23 fascinated by how quickly that little
01:25 tiny egg will hatch into a caterpillar
01:28 and grow into a large caterpillar become
01:32 a chrysalis and then emerge as an adult
01:34 butterfly between Iowa State the
01:37 Department of Ag and land stewardship
01:39 and Iowa Department of Natural Resources
01:40 we came together and we said we need a
01:43 consortium of many partners many members
01:46 so that we can make a difference on this
01:48 important issue
01:49 and and we were really gratified to see
01:53 how many people step forward and said
01:55 that they wanted to be part of the
01:56 effort
01:57 [Music]
Couldn't attend the monarch field day? We made a recap video just for you!
Wendy Wintersteen, endowed dean of ISU's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, welcomed nearly 40 attendees and highlighted monarch conservation efforts happening statewide. Groups of participants rotated through field day presentations led by:
- Tori Pocius, ISU graduate student -- Monarch preference among native milkweed species
- Seth Appelgate, ISU ag specialist -- Monarch habitat establishment
- Sean McCoy, IDALS environmental specialist -- Habitat and water quality
- Dr. Bob Hartzler, ISU Extension weed scientist -- Weed management in conservation plantings
- Keith Bidne, USDA-ARS -- Monarch butterfly biology, annual migration, and life stages
Thank you to the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium members and partners, the USDA-NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant program, the Iowa State University monarch research team, and the ISU Field Extension Education Lab. We'll see you again next summer!