In October, hundreds of people gathered at UW Madison and tuned in online for the first ever Wisconsin Neonic Forum. The day-long event brought together a wide range of experts, advocates and researchers to examine the environmental and health impacts of neonicotinoids, the most widely used insecticides in our state.
“This forum is a first step as we unravel the impact of these insecticides and what they mean for our environment, our eco-systems, and ultimately our health,” said Clean Wisconsin Water and Agriculture Program Director Sara Walling.
Neonicotinoid pesticides, or “neonics,” are neurotoxins intended to attack the central nervous systems of targeted insects. But research is beginning to reveal alarming, unintended harms from the pesticides, which have been making their way into Wisconsin’s waterways and groundwater.
UW Madison entomologist Dr. James Crall detailed his research showing how neonic exposure disrupts bee colonies, even at sublethal levels. “[Exposed bees] become less social. They get pushed to the periphery and interact less with nest mates,” Crall explained. “They can’t do things like restructure the nest. They can’t build a wax canopy. Their capacity is impaired.”
Daniel Raichel with the Natural Resources Defense Council pointed to a recent study showing rodents exposed to neonics experienced size reductions in critical areas of the brain. “I think it is pretty self-apparent that when you have a chemical that is reducing the size, the actual physical size of critical areas of brain, that’s a major concern,” he said.
Neonics are applied to millions of acres of agricultural and urban land each year, and are also used as seed treatments, coating virtually all conventional corn seed and much of the soybean crops planted in Wisconsin. But there is growing evidence that farmers see little benefit from using neonics on their crops.
Dr. Shawn Conley, State Soybean and Small Grain Specialist at UW Madison, presented research showing soybean farmers get “basically no return on investment” when it comes to yield after planting the expensive neonic-treated seeds. And for conventional corn growers, there are almost no other seed options.
“The probability of return on investment is pretty darn low,” he said. “Does it necessarily have to be on 99% of Seed corn? No. Should farmers have a choice? Yes.”
Clean Wisconsin partnered with Trout Unlimited, the River Alliance of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Greenfire, the Tribal Conservation Advisory Council, WDNR, DATCP, Black Earth Creek Watershed Association, UW Extension, and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies to host the forum. In the year ahead, we will continue working with our partners, the public, stakeholders and policymakers to push for more sustainable agricultural practices and policies that will protect both crop yields and the environment.
You can watch the entire forum on Clean Wisconsin’s YouTube channel. Learn more at cleanwisconsin.org/neonics
