Bee Friendly Farming ® launched on 5^th May. The BFF Scientific task force has met 3 times since then (twice with the US Scientific taskforce) to review applications and discuss the BFF Australia standards.  My sincere thanks to the task force members who volunteer their time to support this new initiative.

At the last meeting, the taskforce reviewed 6 farm applications covering 5,082ha, 3 states (WA, Vic and NSW) and a range of enterprises including apples, grapes, avocadoes, grazing/pasture and agroforestry. The program is receiving very strong interest and demonstrating the scale of benefits the program can deliver through farmers making a commitment to improved practices that support pollinators. As a result of this growth, we are now advertising for a Technical Liaison Officer to join Wheen Bee Foundation. This new role is being established to support farmers and land managers as they transition their farms to become Bee Friendly Farming ® CERTIFIED.

We are thrilled to announce that Almond Board of Australia (ABA) has just become a Bee Friendly Farming Partner  and discussions are underway with a number of almond orchards interested in becoming Bee Friendly Farming ® CERTIFIED.  In USA, there are currently 45,000 ha almonds under Bee Friendly Farming accreditation, so we are anticipating strong growth in this area.