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Last updated on Tuesday, December 1, 2015
(UNDATED) - Federal officials want landowners in state to grow milkweed to boost the population of monarch butterflies.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is planning to use $4 million next year to help residents plant milkweed and other nectar-producing plants.
Shannon Zezula, with the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, tells The Herald-Times the agency wants to re-establish habitats for monarchs and pollinators in general.
Milkweed is essential for monarchs since it is the only plant on which the butterfly will lay its eggs. It takes three to four generations for the monarchs to migrate to roosting spots in mountains of central Mexico.
USDA funds also will be spent in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin.
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