Will my participation really make a difference?

Absolutely. The recent release survey conducted was the single best assessment ever conducted of the industry. It was successful (and can be used in the ESA comments page) solely because so many farmers generously shared their numbers. If only 10 farms participate, this is a weak data set (as demonstrated by the OE study which used 14 farms to represent an entire industry of 60+ plus farms). If 60 farms participate, it will be compelling data. However, it does require we address the issue of OE. Sixty farms sending in contaminated butterflies will be pretty convincing evidence that everything bad said about us is true. So, let’s take this very, very seriously.