There is a growing body of science directly implicating neonicotinoid (neonic) pesticides in the significant decline of bees and other pollinators.1 Neonicotinoids are applied in multiple ways in many parts of agriculture and horticulture, but are most prevalent as a seed coating material for agricultural commodity crops like corn and soybeans. Based on convincing and mounting evidence and data, beekeepers, scientists and other individuals concerned about pollinators are working together to spur regulatory action and shifts in the marketplace to reduce the use of neonicotinoids.

In May 2015, the White House issued an interagency report entititled “National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and other Pollinators.” The strategy focuses on efforts to restore honey bee loss, increase monarch butterfly populations and restore pollinator habitats. But, the White House plan virtually ignores the on-the-ground farm economics that directly contribute to rising neonic use in seed coating– specifically the role of a few large companies that have a stranglehold on the seed market. The concentrated market power in the seed industry has allowed a few multi-billion dollar companies to significantly limit U.S. farmers’ choice around seed coating.

This lack of choice—in most cases, the seed is coated with neonicotinoids whether wanted or not—in turn has made it difficult for farmers and their advisors to assess the actual value of these pesticides in crop production, or to understand their true financial and environmental costs. Most farmers understand the value of pollinators to plant growth and the food system and would not intentionally harm them. However, without credible information on the risks or the freedom to choose their seed coating, farmers are left with little choice but to accept what their seed company delivers.

Fortunately, there are some independent seed companies and dealers willing to provide farmers with information and choice around seed coatings. Representing a small segment of a highly consolidated industry, independent seed producers and dealers are able and willing to respond to market changes and farmer preferences associated with not only neonicotinoids, but also other areas of market interest, such as non-genetically modified organisms (GMOs), cover and specialty crops. But a farmer’s ability to choose what kind of seed coatings they want to utilize as part of their crop management system should be the rule, not the exception, in farming and the seed market.

One of the most basic and necessary aspects of a free market is available and accurate information about products and their efficacy, cost and benefits. It should go without saying, then, that in a competitive marketplace, farmers should receive accurate, up-to-date information from researchers and other farmers at field days about the actual costs and benefits of neonicotinoids and other seed coatings related to both crop production and the environment, including pollinators. Yet this isn’t happening with neonicotinoids or other seed coating ingredients today. With such a clear market failure, it appears farmers—together with research partners and farm organizations—need resources to take this matter into their own hands. We need credible, farmer-led field trials that compare different seed coatings and traits, and that information should be shared with other farmers. Only with complete information and choice—about neonicotinoids, but also other crop management tools—can farmers make smart choices that allow them to produce crops and take care of pollinators and the environment.