by Rick Zimmerman, NEAFA Executive Director
New Hampshire agriculture commissioner When Jasper, center, meets with NEAFA representatives Andy Dugan, Art Whitman and Rick Zimmerman. AFIA's Louise Calderwood joined the delegation that also travelled to Massachusetts and Maine.
Working with state government leaders throughout the northeast is a priority for the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance (NEAFA). NEAFA put this objective into action earlier this month when a NEAFA leadership team road tripped from Boston, MA, to Concord, NH, and finally to Augusta, ME, to meet with state commissioners of agriculture. This annual event fortifies working relationships and demonstrates our collaboration with state agricultural organizations. This year’s trip allowed us to meet two relatively new agriculture commissioners: Shawn Jasper of New Hampshire, Amanda Beal of Maine, and Massachusetts’ John Lebeaux, who is entering his fifth year in office. All three commissioners were very interested in what we had to say.
Andy Dugan, Chair of the NEAFA Government Relations Committee, travelled with Past Chair Art Whitman, Louise Calderwood of the American Feed Industry Association, and NEAFA Executive Director Rick Zimmerman for two days of meetings, miles and meals. They were joined by state-based national agribusiness company representatives in Boston and Concord, who complimented the discussions. Together, NEAFA and these industry leaders talked about the importance of the agribusiness industries in each respective state and invited the commissioners to tour our facilities. While the conversations were wide ranging, inevitably discussions focused on neonicotinoid pesticides.
Nine U.S. state legislatures, including four in the northeast, have either enacted or are considering bills to address the complex issue of pollinator health, including the presumed impact of neonicotinoid pesticides. Neonicotinoids became commercially available in the late 1990s, and by 2014 virtually all corn and about a third of the U.S. soybean acreage was planted with neonicotinoid-treated seeds due to their perceived safety and efficacy. Recent studies have implicated this class of pesticides as a contributing cause to the decline in pollinators nationwide.
Several northeastern states are considering a wide variety of approaches to limit the use of neonicotinoid pesticides. The New York Senate Environmental Conservation Committee for example, is considering a bill that proposes to prohibit all use of atrazine, metalaxyl and neonicotinoids. Legislation currently in the Massachusetts Committee on Ways and Means proposes neonicotinoids to be registered as restricted use pesticides.
Some states have already enacted legislation to increase regulatory oversight of neonicotinoid use. In 2017, Connecticut passed legislation requiring development of best practices to minimize the airborne release of neonicotinoid insecticide dust from treated seeds. The following year, Vermont pass legislation into law that requires some forms of neonicotinoids to be registered as restricted use pesticides. Unlike Massachusetts, agricultural uses in Vermont are exempt from oversight by the new law.
NEAFA supports effective science-based pest control methods that pose minimal risk to pollinator communities. Integrated pest management programs are essential to assist farmers as they adopt best practices to protect their crops and minimize the impact of pesticides on pollinators.
Bees are exposed to many different stresses, not just pesticides, and therefore it is important to consider all the relevant threats when considering public policies attempting to address pollinator decline. In addition, it is important to take into consideration the impacts of alternative pesticides, many that are more environmentally hazardous, that farmers may be forced to use if neonicotinoids become unavailable. This is the message that we delivered to Commissioners Lebeaux, Jasper, and Beal, and it is timely guidance given the status of the debate in their respective states.
Advocate, Collaborate, Educate: NEAFA’s primary objectives in action in New England this month.