Harvest season has wrapped in what has been a challenging year for New York’s farmers, including a wet growing season and increased pest and disease pressures. Farmers need safe and effective risk management tools at their disposal to grow food needed to feed a growing population. This is why New York Farm Bureau (NYFB) is asking Gov. Hochul to veto the “Birds and Bees Protection Act” (S1856-A/A7460) that would ban an entire class of pesticides and treated seeds known as neonicotinoids.
The NYFB says the bill is deeply concerning, especially because of the precedent it sets. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and its scientific expertise should maintain the authority to properly review and register risk management tools, something the legislature is stripping away. This is the same justification cited by Gov. Hochul in her recent veto message of S5957/A5949, that would have allowed local governments to ban the use of certain pesticides in freshwater wetlands.
Seeds treated with neonicotinoids were designed to be safer and reduce pesticide use. In many cases, it uses 99 percent less of a chemical versus traditional broadcast spraying. While New York Farm Bureau shares the same goal as supporters of the legislation, to always look for ways to reduce our environmental footprint, they believe the result of this ban will force farms to revert back to spraying greater amounts of older, more toxic pesticides as well as increasing tillage to combat harmful pests. This would release more carbon from the soil and increase the likelihood of soil erosion, creating additional environmental and climate issues for the state, moving us backward.
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