Unbeknownst to many Americans, the majority of soybean, corn, canola, and sunflower seeds planted in the U.S. are pre-coated with neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics).

The chemicals, which are produced by Bayer and Syngenta, travel systemically through the plants and kill insects that munch on their roots and leaves.¹ However, you can’t cover a plant seed with poison and expect it to be free of unintended consequences.

These pesticides are powerful neurotoxins, and have been blamed for decimating populations of non-target wildlife, including important pollinators such as bees and butterflies.

This occurs because the pesticides are taken up through the plant’s vascular system as it grows, and, as a result, the chemical is expressed in the pollen and nectar of the plant.

Certain bird species that feast on insects killed by neonicotinoids have also declined.²

Recent research also reveals that neonics can persist and accumulate in soils, and since they’re water-soluble, they leach into waterways where other types of wildlife may be affected.

As noted in a 2013 scientific review³ of neonicotinoids, “the prophylactic use of broad-spectrum pesticides goes against the long-established principles of integrated pest management, leading to environmental concerns.”

Neonics Provide No Significant Benefits or Gains for Farmers

According to an investigation⁴ by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), published last year, treating soybean seeds with neonicotinoids provides no significant financial or agricultural benefits for farmers.

The researchers also noted there are several other foliar insecticides available that can combat pests as effectively as neonicotinoid seed treatments, with fewer risks.

As reported by Civil Eats,⁵ other studies suggest reducing the use of pesticides may actually reduce crop losses. The reason for this is because neonic-coated seeds harm beneficial insects that help kill pests naturally,⁶ thereby making any infestation far worse than it needs to be.

According to one study,⁷ ecologically-based farming that helps kill soybean aphids without pesticides could save farmers in four states (Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) nearly $240 million in losses each year.

Despite such findings, farmers have very limited ability to avoid neonic-treated seeds.

Farmers Have Limited Ability to Avoid Pesticide-Treated Seeds

For starters, there’s a near-monopoly on seed, with a small number of seed companies ruling the entire industry, leaving farmers with virtually no choices. As reported by Civil Eats:⁸

“Starting in the 1990s, and continuing in the 2000s, the largest seed and pesticide companies went on a buying spree, gobbling up a large number of smaller seed companies …

The four largest seed companies control nearly 60 percent of the global patented seed market … This fact constrains farmers’ choices.

The consequences are illustrated by the increased ability of seed companies to charge excessively high prices for corn or soybean seed, and to supply pesticide-coated seeds exclusively, which contributes to those prices.”

In addition to simply eliminating untreated seed from their available seed offerings, another way seed companies push farmers into using treated seed is by limiting the crop insurance they can get if they use untreated seed.

If a treated seed crop fails, the farmer will get 100 percent rebate. If they opt for untreated seed, the rebate will only cover 50 to 75 percent of losses.

Wildflowers Often Contain Higher Levels of Neonics Than Nearby Crops

One of the most recent studies⁹ into neonicotinoids came to a startling discovery: wildflowers growing around the margins of fields are also severely contaminated with neonics, and the concentrations of the toxin in the pollen and nectar of these flowers are sometimes higher than the levels found in the crop itself.

This appears to be a previously overlooked route of exposure for pollinators, and it also means that researchers have likely underestimated the amount of toxins these pollinators are actually exposed to. As noted by the authors:

“Indeed, the large majority (97 percent) of neonicotinoids brought back in pollen to honey bee hives in arable landscapes was from wildflowers, not crops.

Both previous and ongoing field studies have been based on the premise that exposure to neonicotinoids would occur only during the blooming period of flowering crops and that it may be diluted by bees also foraging on untreated wildflowers.

Here, we show that exposure is likely to be higher and more prolonged than currently recognized because of widespread contamination of wild plants growing near treated crops.”

Seed Treatments and Crops Engineered for Insect-Resistance Have Led to Increased Use of Insecticides

The chemical technology industry claims that seed treatments and genetically engineered (GE) insect-resistant crops have dramatically decreased the use of insecticide.

While this may appear true on paper, in reality, neonic-treated seeds and Bt crops have actually led to increased use of insecticides, for three reasons:

1. Pest resistance has driven up pesticide use
2. Plant-incorporated insecticides are not counted toward usage
3. Seed treatments are not counted toward usage

Bt plants are equipped with a gene from the soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which produces Bt toxin — a pesticide that breaks open the stomach of certain insects and kills them. Bt plants are engineered to produce this pesticide internally.

One of the touted benefits of GE crops like Bt cotton and Bt corn is reduced pesticide usage, as the plant itself will kill any bug that chews on it. However, just like exaggerated herbicide use has led to the rapid development of resistant superweeds, so have Bt plants led to the emergence of resistant pests.

For example, according to The Times of India,¹⁰ farmers in Punjab and Haryana are seeing significant losses of their Bt cotton crops to the whitefly. To address the problem, increasing amounts of pesticides have been applied. This isn’t necessarily a new problem.

In 2002, farmers applied so much pesticide to fend off the whiteflies that soil and groundwater is thought to have been affected, and many now blame the exaggerated use of pesticides on the clustering of cancer cases being detected among those living in India’s cotton belt.