Beneficial insects, such as the monarch butterfly, can be better protected by providing incentives to private landowners and public land users, instead of imposing land use restrictions and penalties, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) said last week in comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The EPA sought comments on its proposal to protect the butterfly. Some environmental activist groups are pushing the agency to place restrictions to herbicides, including glyphosate, to promote the spread of milkweed, the primary food source for monarchs.

While it agrees that...