By DOUG SCHMITZ

Iowa Correspondent

DES MOINES, Iowa — Kemin Industries on July 2 announced plans to establish the company’s first monarch fueling station at its Research Agronomy Center near Kelley, Iowa, creating a habitat that will promote the repopulation of monarchs and other insects, such as bees.

“A project like the Monarch Fueling Station aligns with our company’s vision to improve the quality of life by touching over half the people of the world through our products and services,” said John Greaves, Kemin vice president of Specialty Crops.

Kemin, a Des Moines-based global nutritional ingredient company that provides enzymes for use in the biofuel industry, uses plant science to develop specialty crops that can produce molecules with active or functional benefits. Greaves said Kemin will plant milkweed to attract and provide “fuel” for the butterflies and other beneficial insects.

“We’re also committed to sustainable crop production, and we’re excited to be able to use our resources to promote the repopulation of monarch butterflies and other beneficial pollinator insects,” he said.

The location and size of the plot was decided in consultation with Kevin Reynolds, Iowa Renewable Fuels Assoc. (IRFA) habitat establishment coordinator.

“It’s exciting to see the Monarch Fueling Station Project gain momentum and expand beyond biofuels plants,” he said.

Established by the IRFA in December 2017 in partnership with the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium, the Monarch Fueling Station Project is a program to help Iowa’s ethanol and biodiesel plants create patches of monarch habitats on plant grounds.

“Iowa’s biofuels plants are establishing themselves as leaders in the statewide effort to restore the population of the monarch butterfly,” Reynolds said.

Greaves explained the Kemin’s monarch habitat will span more than two acres, and seeding is expected to begin in November.

Nine days after Kemin’s announcement, Lakeview Plymouth Energy, LLC, in Merrill, Iowa, July 11 officially announced plans to dedicate two acres on plant grounds to a monarch habitat. Last June, Lakeview started seeding the plot, and this summer it is seeing its first strong growth of milkweed plants, which monarch butterflies need for egg laying, said Joe Williams, Lakeview plant manager.

“We were excited to take on a project that allows us to do that in a whole new way,” he said. “When we learned how easy it is to establish a monarch habitat, we jumped at the opportunity.”

In late May, Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) in Cedar Rapids started working on launching a five-acre monarch fueling station. The company will plant a prairie grass and flower mixture, including milkweed plants, along with an existing garden plot that will help grow food for local food banks and charities.

“This will help establish an area for the monarch butterfly and other pollinators going forward,” said Eric McVey, plant superintendent at ADM’s corn processing facility.