Neonicotinoid Seed Treatment Ban Goes to New York Governor

New York lawmakers have approved a bill to ban neonicotinoid seed treatments.

The plan is designed to protect bees and other pollinators from insecticides, but many farmers oppose the move.

The ban would prevent corn, soybean and wheat seeds from being treated with neonicotinoid chemicals starting in 2027. The bill would not apply to other application methods, such as foliar sprays.

Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a Manhattan Democrat, gave this rationale for the bill: ″There is growing evidence that our own Cornell University identified in a study a couple of years ago of the harms of these chemicals that are linked to neurological, metabolic and reproductive issues in humans and severe population declines in our pollinators like birds and bees.″

The Birds and Bees Protection Act passed the Senate on June 7 and the Assembly two days later. Gov. Kathy Hochul has not yet acted on the bill.

Neonicotinoids are among the most commonly used insecticides, with the seed treatments more or less standard for conventional corn.

The chemicals — including clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam — are systemic, meaning they move throughout the plant.

Environmental groups have criticized neonics as dangerous to pollinators, humans and the environment.

But without neonic seed treatments, farmers will resort to more hazardous pesticides they used decades ago, said Sen. George Borrello, R-Chautauqua.

″We’re going to go backward in so many ways if we do this,″ Borrello said.

New York Farm Bureau opposes the seed treatment ban, saying it would increase the volume of pesticides farmers use, and would bypass the approval process handled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Hoylman-Sigal said farmers could replace neonics with diamides, an insecticide class with a relatively new mode of action. Some researchers are concerned that insects are rapidly developing resistance to diamides.

Much of Hoylman-Sigal’s argument is based on a 2020 Cornell report that examined the scientific literature to assess neonicotinoids’ economic benefits and risks to pollinators in New York.

The 430-page document found neonic seed treatments rarely increased yields in field studies but could pose substantial risks to bees.

Critics of the ban argued that farmers use pesticides judiciously and do not want to harm beneficial species.

″Farmers are pro-pollinators. There is no other way to create a soybean if you eliminate the bee from the equation,″ said Sen. John Mannion, D-Onondaga, who punctuated his floor speech by eating a blackberry off a plastic fork.

Borrello, the top Republican on the Agriculture Committee, said lawmakers should wait to act until a three-year neonic study, now in its second year, is completed in central New York.

″This Cornell study is just a lot of Google searches about other studies from other states and other countries,″ he said.
In human health, neonicotinoids have relatively low toxicity but are not without risk, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Some studies have reported associations between chronic neonic exposure and human health problems, but the evidence remains thin and warrants future study, according to the first systematic review.

It was published in 2017 by researchers from George Washington University and the National Institutes of Health.

Conflicting Opinions

Though farmers are among neonics’ biggest champions, some in the ag industry are skeptical.

The ubiquitous use of neonic seed treatments violates integrated pest management principles because the affected pests appear only sporadically, according to John Tooker and colleagues at Penn State.

The treatments could threaten predator species that control pests, and are best used only where damaging insect populations are likely to occur, Tooker and co-authors have said.

The Northeast Organic Farming Association-New York and 50 farms sent a letter supporting the ban to the governor and lawmakers. The letter says neonics threaten pollinators and contaminate the environment.

In addition to banning seed treatments, the Birds and Bees Protection Act would eliminate the use of neonicotinoids in nonagricultural settings, such as home gardens and golf courses. Exception would be made for controlling destructive pests.

According to the Cornell study, neonicotinoids are the only effective, affordable tool for combating the hemlock woolly adelgid. Neonics are also used against the spotted lanternfly.

In a concession to farmers, the bill would allow the state environment commissioner to suspend the seed treatment ban if the local supply of untreated seed is inadequate or too expensive.

To Sen. Pam Helming, R-Ontario, that sounded like a way to prevent the rules from ever going into effect.

″The bill before us really does nothing to protect our environment,″ she said.

The legislation — which passed the Senate 45-16 — is one of several efforts to restrict neonicotinoid use.

In January, New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation reclassified key neonic products as restricted-use pesticides, meaning they can only be used by licensed applicators.

New Jersey took a similar step through legislation, and on Oct. 31, nonagricultural uses of neonicotinoids will be banned there.

The European Union has severely limited use of neonicotinoids. On the other hand, Canada only slightly reduced registered uses in its most recent review.

The EPA plans to complete its latest review of neonicotinoids next year.

″2023 Seed Treatment Special″ magazine will come out this June. For Feature sponsoring or advertising, please contact Christina at christina@agropages.com.

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