A big fight is brewing in the legislature over one of the most common pesticide uses and a complex new regime proposed for farmers who want to keep planting seeds coated with neonicotinoids — brewing, that is, unless the powerful and adamantly opposed farm and chemical lobbies snuff it early.
The dominant form of pesticide use on big farms involves major chemical manufacturers and seed companies coating seeds, from corn to sugar beets to wheat, with the pesticides, often called “neonics.” The coating is an infusion that grows with the plant, so that destructive insects that bite into the material are warded off from seed to harvest. Farm, seed and chemical interests argue these targeted pesticides are less risky for humans and critters than the old system of fence-to-fence broadcast spraying.
Environmental and conservation groups have been stepping up opposition to the neonicotinoid family of coatings, saying the chemicals don’t just kill unwanted pests. They also are deadly, or at least disruptive, to dwindling pollinators, butterflies and other important insects. The groups also worry about aquatic life from farm runoff containing neonics, and still are not satisfied with cited studies showing no impact to humans eating neonic-protected foods.
Opponents of neonics have joined to land legislative sponsorship for Senate Bill 65, which would require every farm to receive approval for neonic seed use through a review of pest vulnerability and history on their specific site. The reviews and certificates to allow purchase of the seeds would be done by a third-party auditor. A furious resistance was immediate from farm groups — and the multinational chemical companies that sell to them — that see an expensive and complex new bureaucracy imposed on their most basic planting decisions.
Colorado Farm Bureau spokesperson Melissa Weaver said in an email response to questions that the ag group is opposed “as it bans the use and sale of our farmers’ most effective, efficient, safe and affordable pest management tool.”
Farmers are averaging $50,000 a year in profits, and recent inflation has jacked up the cost of everything from machinery to fertilizer, the bureau claims. The extra cost of a new neonicotinoid regime and the loss of yield for farmers who can’t get approval would be a devastating combo, the bureau said.
Farm organizations have not been included in developing the new neonics policies, Weaver said. “For us to participate in this policy discussion, we must first be invited, which has not happened yet. That signals to the industry that the proponents are far more concerned with dictating to farmers and ranchers how they should operate, as opposed to working with those in the field to address our most pressing concerns.”
Proponents of the bill say they have Gov. Jared Polis on their side, promoting pictures of him attending one of their “Seed We Need” events that demand tough action on neonics.
Polis does support the seed-licensing bill, spokesperson Eric Maruyama said on Monday.
“The governor for decades has believed that limiting unnecessary pesticides is an important way to support our farmers and make Colorado healthier, and he appreciates any effort to support a more sustainable and environmentally friendly Colorado,” Maruyama said. “That includes reducing the amount of unnecessary insecticides used in farming across the state. The governor calls on the legislature to take meaningful action to limit neonicotinoid pesticides as states like Vermont and New York and the European Union have done, and pass this legislation.”
Environment Colorado, the nonprofit advocacy group at the core of the neonics debate, offered research showing the chemicals “devastate wildlife and contaminate our water,” and do not necessarily increase crop yields.
“The basic problem is that we are using this very toxic pesticide, a thousand times more toxic than DDT, unnecessarily, and it doesn’t seem to really benefit farmers, according to studies,” Environment Colorado’s Henry Stiles said. “It’s basically being used as an insurance policy against a problem that probably won’t happen. The analogy that I like to use is that it’s like we’re using this stuff over the counter instead of having a prescription. We don’t do antibiotics over the counter. We have a prescription. There are reasons for that.”
Farmers say they know best
Representatives of the chemical and seed companies will be lobbying against the bill alongside farming trade groups.
“Comprehensive studies conducted under realistic field conditions have shown that residues of neonicotinoids in the flowers of seed-treated crops are clearly below the levels that could cause adverse effects on honeybee colonies,” according to an annual update on neonics from Bayer AG, a major manufacturer of the pesticide. “Neonicotinoids, like all pesticides, are highly regulated, and all Bayer products undergo extensive testing to ensure they don’t have unacceptable adverse effects on non-target insects and the environment.”
Farmers say they are the ones best positioned to make crop decisions in Colorado, and that they wouldn’t use neonics if they weren’t safe and the best tool for the job of warding off costly pests.
“Years of scientific research and strict regulatory standards have shown that seeds with crop and pest protection are safe,” Weaver’s email said. “A high yield and healthy crop is never guaranteed in agriculture. Bad weather, disease, and pests all have an impact on whether a crop is successful. That is why when farmers use these technologies, they only use methods that are scientifically proven and rigorously tested to grow food in the safest and most effective manner possible.”
The third-party requirement, Stiles noted, would affect row crops like corn, wheat and sugar beets, not fruit and vegetable crops. Colorado already has laws restricting neonics, he added, including a 2023 bill forcing sales through licensed dealers and banning them from big-box home and garden retailers.
Still other studies have shown that using neonic seeds did not actually cut the amount of chemical use overall, Stiles said. The neonicotinoids work best in the first couple of weeks of seed germination, and reviews of farming practices still show widespread use of broadcast pesticides in other parts of the growing season.
New York and Vermont have passed neonic seed restrictions to go into effect in 2029, the same year the Colorado proposal would start, Stiles said. Meanwhile, other countries have imposed bans that show the way for Colorado, he said.
“In the European Union and Quebec, which have banned this, we don’t see changes in yield. We don’t see the need for neonics,” Stiles said. “In Quebec, neonics use has gone down to almost zero.”
The first hearing on the Colorado neonics bill has been scheduled for the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources committee on Feb. 26.