Hi,
There is one huge factor that is totally being overlooked in the neonicotinoid issue which is the seed metering method on planters. Traditionally and still to this date planters used either plates, brush meters (for soybeans), or finger pickup units to take the seed from a hopper on the row unit and drop it in the ground. The recent trend has been to have a bulk fill tank on the center of the planter that blows the seeds to a small hopper on the row units. At that point another blower blows the seeds against rotating plastic discs. The main advantage of this system is that the farmer does not have to handle bags but on our farm the disadvantages of the extra $30,000 for the planter system, the $30,000 dollar precision seed tender needed to deliver the seed to the planter, and the $45,000 ¾ ton pickup to pull the seed tender made the economics of handling a few hundred bags of seed corn seem very appealing.
Back to the bees; while the seed corn has been highly cleaned, in addition to the various seed treatments including neonicotinoids, there is still some dust in the bags and the farmer is also required to add some form of talc or graphite as a seed flow lubricant that comes in contact with the seed and insecticides. As the seeds are blown from the bulk tanks to the row units and then metered in the row units with air pressure, the planter is continuously exhaling a neonicotinoid fog across the entire landscape. Compare this system to one in which the seed corn bag is dumped into a box and the seed is physically picked up and dropped in the ground. While I have not done any research, my instincts would tell me that the amount of insecticide reaching off target sites would drop by 95% with the non-air delivery system.
These older systems are readily available and if not already an option in the manufacturers planter lines could easily be added. The cost of the systems is usually less than the more sophisticated air delivery systems with the only trade off being a slight inconvenience to farmers.
This to me would be a no brainer first step to help solve this serious problem.
Steve Swan
From: Iowa Discussion, Alerts and Announcements [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of l
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2015 6:12 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Fwd: Pesticide makers point to other culprits in bee die-offs
-----Original Message-----
From: Laurel Hopwood <[log in to unmask]>
To: CONS-SPST-BIOTECH-FORUM <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Mon, Nov 23, 2015 8:26 am
Subject: Pesticide makers point to other culprits in bee die-offs
Here's what we're up against: Multinational agribusiness control with big money to spend on PR, legal efforts, pro-neonic research and political influence.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/1df4c6fbcef443d8a59f867f962ae3cb/pesticide-makers-point-other-culprits-bee-die-offs
Pesticide makers point to other culprits in bee die-offs
(EDITED)
Bayer and Syngenta are fighting pressure from regulators in the U.S. and Europe with publicity campaigns and lobbying aimed at telling people that neonics are beneficial and safe when used correctly, and that bees face greater peril from parasites, pathogens and poor diets as wild flowering plants diminish.
Representatives for Bayer, Syngenta and Monsanto — which coats its seeds with neonics — are speaking at beekeepers' conferences and visiting agricultural research universities. Bayer invites visitors, teachers and students to its bee centers on its corporate campuses and offers teachers a downloadable digital science lesson about bees.
Critics say that is propaganda.
Bayer produces three of the world's top five neonic pesticides in a worldwide market estimated to be worth about $3 billion, with Bayer's two top-selling products taking about half the market. Syngenta's best-selling neonic is worth about $1 billion in annual sales.
Bee losses in the U.S. the past five years have been especially acute, with reported annual losses of 30 percent to 45 percent, according to a study authored by researchers including the University of Maryland's Dennis van Engelsdorp . The heavy death toll continues through the spring and summer, when bee populations are collecting pollen and should be their healthiest, the study said.
Across Europe and nearby countries like Algeria, beekeepers reported 17 percent of colonies lost last winter, twice that of the previous year.
That has regulators and retailers zeroing in on neonics. The EPA is working on new risk assessments, and the European Union is reviewing a 2 year old ban on the biggest-selling neonics from crops during their flowering stage.
"We're going to push with every ounce of our energy to get this thing reversed," former Syngenta Chief Executive Officer Michael Mack told stock analysts in February.
Here is Sierra Club's piece on the honeybee crisis:
https://content.sierraclub.org/grassrootsnetwork/team-news/2014/08/deepening-honeybee-crisis-and-our-food-supply
Laurel Hopwood, Coordinator, Sierra Club Pollinator Protection Campaign
Email: [log in to unmask]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-SPST-BIOTECH-FORUM list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp