Neonic Divide

Industry, Academics Disagree on Response to EPA Report

Emily Unglesbee
By  Emily Unglesbee , DTN Staff Reporter
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Academic and industry representatives disagree over need for insecticidal treatments on soybean seeds. (DTN photo by Bob Elbert)

ST. LOUIS (DTN) -- The agricultural community is increasingly fractured over the need for neonicotinoids, just as EPA delves into a re-registration review of the chemicals.

In late December, a group of 18 Extension and land-grant university entomologists signed a letter to EPA strongly supporting the agency's recent report concluding that neonicotinoid use in soybean seed treatments is unnecessary and overused.

"[The report] is an affirmation of what we've been seeing and what our research shows," explained Pennsylvania State University entomologist John Tooker, who was among the letter's signees. Together, Tooker and the other signees represented 13 states covering the majority of soybean-producing acreage in the northern U.S.

The letter stands in stark contrast to reactions from the rest of the agricultural community. Since the EPA report was released in October, industry representatives from seed companies, neonicotinoid manufacturers, and commodity groups such as the American Soybean Association have uniformly voiced disagreement with the report's conclusions.

Yet at the end of the day, most members of the ag community want to see the same results -- continued registration of neonicotinoids, albeit with more careful application, scientists and industry representatives told DTN.

"We need to use those products sparingly and judiciously, but when we need them, we need them," explained Ray Gaesser, an Iowa farmer and chairman of the American Soybean Association.

Tooker agreed a ban on neonicotinoids in soybeans is not the preferred outcome, but warned the industry's default application of these chemicals to most corn, cotton, and soybean seed is working against it.

He likened the trend to overuse of glyphosate among many farmers over the past decade. "This seems to be yet another example of the agricultural industry loving something to death," he said, "I would like growers that need neonicotinoids to be able to use them. But by having them used so indiscriminately, their utility is being greatly obscured."

THE ACADEMIC CASE

"On our farm, we need neonicotinoids because of the soybean leaf beetle. We've had to deal with them since 1994," explained Gaesser, who farms near Corning, Iowa. Without neonicotinoids, Gaesser said he would have to use foliar insecticides every year to keep the insects from spreading soybean mosaic virus in his fields.

Yet academic research suggests cases like Gaesser's are a minority in the northern soybean-producing states, especially given the legume's well-documented ability to bounce back from early injury, the university entomologists contended in their letter to EPA.

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While EPA estimated only one-third of soybean acres in the U.S. contained a neonicotinoid seed treatment between 2008 and 2012, some suspect adoption has soared recently. Tooker estimates around 60% or 70% of Pennsylvania soybean farmers use treated bean seed. An annual survey of seven Midsouth states estimated 66% of planted soybean acres in the region were treated with these insecticides in 2013.

In their letter, the northern entomologists instead recommend neonicotinoids be limited to specific problem fields, such as those with a history of seedling pests (like Gaesser's) or under high-risk pest situations, such as double-cropped soybeans and reclaimed CRP land.

THE DISSENTING SOUTH

Pest pressure in the South can be heavier and harder to manage, leading a number of entomologists from Southern universities to set themselves apart from their northern colleagues by voicing disagreement with EPA's report.

"In our geography, we see value in them," explained Louisiana State University entomologist David Kerns, who sent a public comment to EPA supporting continued use of neonicotinoids in soybean seed treatments.

Kerns said research in the Midsouth shows an average yield advantage of 2 bushels per acre, with individual problem fields seeing gains of up to 10 bushels. While the yield advantage of neonicotinoids is smaller in soybeans compared to corn and cotton, losing them "would make farming less profitable," Kerns maintained.

The conclusions of his northern colleagues may stand true for their region, but Kerns worries their letter might give an inaccurate picture of universal academic agreement. "I don't want that information to get misconstrued to cover other regions," he said.

FIGHTING FOR A TOOL

Since October, the agricultural seed and chemical industry has pushed back against the EPA's conclusions. Three manufacturers of neonicotinoids, Syngenta, Bayer, and Valent, commissioned a series of studies by data company AgInformatics, which concluded neonicotinoids gave soybean growers an average yield gain of 3%.

Industry groups such as the American Soybean Association, the American Seed Trade Association, and CropLife America have made public comments to EPA, questioning the report's conclusions, citing research showing yield benefits to the chemicals and strongly maintaining that farmers need access to them.

This divide emerging between industry players and academic scientists is "not productive" but also not surprising, Tooker admitted. "They're leery of regulation -- they want the farmers to have all tools they might need to manage any problems that might come up," he said of the industry groups disparaging the report.

Gaesser agreed. "It's really about farmers being able to choose," he said. "I think in a lot of cases, the entomologists are right that farmers may be using neonicotinoids when there's no value in the end of extra yield," he added. "But I can tell you that on our farm there is a definite value, and in other areas of country, there's a definite value to using neonicotinoids."

The EPA's registration review of the chemicals, which will conclude in 2015 or 2016, will ultimately review use of neonicotinoids in all crops, including corn and cotton, where their use is near universal.

Eleven environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and Friends of the Earth, recently called for an immediate suspension of neonicotinoids, citing bee and other pollinator losses. Yet despite the differences in opinion on the current need for them, the agricultural community appears united on a desire to keep the chemicals on the table.

"I would not advocate for a ban of neonicotinoids," Tooker explained. "But if the agricultural industry doesn't police itself, then I could understand the need for regulators to get involved. I hope we don't get to that point and that companies would provide enough treated and untreated seed to allow growers to choose, which doesn't really happen now."

You can find all public comments to the EPA regarding their neonicotinoid report here: http://1.usa.gov/…, and the northern entomologists' letter to EPA here: http://1.usa.gov/….

You can find the environmental groups' call for a suspension of the chemicals here: http://on.nrdc.org/….

Emily Unglesbee can be reached at emily.unglesbee@dtn.com

Follow Emily Unglesbee on Twitter @Emily_Unglesbee

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Emily Unglesbee