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Inspired by similar legislation in Quebec and New York, Vermont representatives hope to ban neonicotinoids in the state.
Neonicotinoids are insecticides that coat plants’ seeds, so the toxins are taken up into a plant’s tissue as it grows, said Samantha Alger, director of Vermont Bee Lab. When an insect bites into the plant, it is exposed to the toxin within. Research shows neonicotinoids are found in a plant’s nectar and pollen — meaning harmless pollinators are poisoned too, Alger said.
But bees and butterflies are not the only species in trouble. Neonicotinoids are linked to adverse effects in birds, aquatic invertebrates and white-tailed deer, Alger said, and they have even been found in human breast milk and infant spinal fluid.
This research sparked the proposal of H.706, a bill banning neonicotinoid use in Vermont. During a House agriculture committee meeting Jan. 31, sponsor Rep. Robin Chesnut-Tangerman, D-Middletown Springs, presented a written statement for the bill, explaining how increased neonicotinoid use among farmers results in environmental harm.
“Along with that growing use is a growing body of research examining in detail not just the damage that neonics wreak on pollinators of many species and the environment at large, but also examining the claimed benefits from their use and what viable alternatives may be,” he said.
H.706 has widespread support, sponsored by a whopping thirty-seven state representatives. Local scientists are also in favor of the bill.
Margaret Fowle, senior conservation biologist with Audubon Vermont, testified to committee members Feb. 1, detailing the harmful effects of neonicotinoids on animal health.
“As someone who has spent a large part of my career working to restore birds that suffered declines from insecticides, this issue is personal for me,” Fowle said.
Recent research, she said, has directly linked the chemicals to notable declines in farmland bird population.
But “virtually 100% of corn in Vermont and 30% of soybeans are grown using treated seed,” said Chesnut-Tangerman in his statement. So it came as no surprise that Denna Benjamin, a dairy farmer from Franklin, is wary of H.706.
Benjamin spoke to committee members on Feb. 8, explaining her family farm’s partnership with the University of Vermont Extension to run a trial comparing the growth of treated and untreated corn seeds used for her crops. Benjamin admitted the results of the trial were promising: little to no difference between the different crops.
But she thinks more data should be collected before the bill is passed and said she had to overcome many obstacles when planting the untreated seeds.
“The seed company charged more; they only had one variety. We had to sign a waiver to not hold them … liable for a bad crop, and that made us a little bit nervous that it showed no confidence in their product,” she said. “And also to note, we had an unusually wet year, so we have no idea how the trial would have turned out in an average year,” she said.
Echoing Benjamin’s uncertainty, Sunrise Orchards co-owner Barry Hodges testified Feb. 2 with hesitant support for the bill.
“I think I’m in support of H.706, but I want to make sure that farmers like us who are using the product very responsibly can continue to do so,” he said, referencing the section of the bill allowing farmers to use neonicotinoids in times of economic crisis.
Hodges said he feared eliminating neonicotinoids would make his orchard susceptible to apple maggot fly, a destructive pest in the state.
“Reviewing H.706, I think my concerns are put at ease,” he said. “But eliminating a class of pesticides can have repercussions or collateral damage that causes farmers to use other lethal pesticides that might be more broadband in their mode of action.”
Though Vermont farmers are keeping their guards up, their counterparts across the border rave about similar legislation.
UVM Extension and Vermont Bee Lab held a panel Jan. 23 with four Quebec farmers to discuss how banning neonicotinoids impacted their professions, and the responses were overwhelmingly positive.
When asked about the difficulty of sourcing neonicotinoid-free seeds, Renaud Peloquin — a farmer who grows 1,300 acres of corn, soybeans, winter wheat and cover crop — said his transition was easy.
“He says don’t be fooled because all the seed suppliers can turn around quickly and provide insecticide free seed in no time actually,” Louis Robert, translator for Peloquin, summarized. “There are a lot of marketing strategies to scare people that they need to use neonics, but you shouldn’t be bothered with that. They can turn around pretty quickly and provide insecticide-free seed … It’s never more expensive to use non-treated seed.”
Later in the panel, Robert, speaking on behalf of the Quebec farmers, said neonicotinoid bans are portrayed as worse than the reality.
“In the three or four years ever since the department of environment announced that they were going to limit the use of insecticide, right away the companies were claiming that it would mean the collapse of the grain sector in Quebec,” he said. “There was a big outcry and marketing strategy and fake news actually. They were worrying people, agronomists and producers, but it never happened actually.”