36 / SEEDWORLD.COM JANUARY 2019 PROTECTINGPOLLINATORS ThisseriesissponsoredbyOperationPollinator, aSyngentaglobalinitiative. NEONICOTINOIDS PLAY AN important role in protecting crops, while farmers, applicators and other indus- try professionals play an equally important role in protecting neonicotinoids. “These tools are very important to growers, and they benefit the environ- ment in many ways, but they get a bad rap. We need to ensure we do everything we can to protect them and the environ- ment,” says Patrick McCain, U.S. regula- tory portfolio lead for Syngenta Seedcare and Lawn & Garden. A world without neonicotinoids, par- ticularly seed treatments, would look very different. Lower yields, higher costs and more foliar insecticide applications are just the start of consequences the indus- try wants to avoid. John Abbott, North American regu- latory portfolio lead for Syngenta, says there is a myth that seed companies and pesticide manufacturers don’t care about bees or being good stewards of the envi- ronment, but in fact, they care about it more deeply than anyone understands. “Some people believe neonics can’t coexist with bees, but hopefully we’ve been able to demonstrate our commit- ment to pollinators and the stewardship efforts we are taking to ensure our prod- ucts can be used safely,” Abbott says. Inspiring Efforts Abbott is grateful that new collaborations have helped raise awareness and funding for research during the past several years. Efforts such as Syngenta’s Seedcare Institute, Operation Pollinator and The Guide to Seed Treatment Stewardship, which McCain helped develop, all aid awareness for neonicotinoid stewardship efforts. Countless studies have been done as well, vastly improving what we know about pollinators, and specifically the many challenges honeybees face. Many farmers have stepped up their environmental stewardship efforts as well. Wayne Fredericks, director of the American Soybean Association, has been farming in northern Iowa for 45 years and has committed to many significant environmentally-focused efforts in his operation. For example, he has seven pollinator habitats on his land, uses cover crops on 100 percent of his fields in a corn Neonicotinoids and the crop protection industry have been under scrutiny, with the threat of losing an important tool in farmers’ integrated pest management toolbox. Melissa Shipman melissanshipman@gmail.com STEWARDSHIPKEYTOSTAYINGPOWER and soybean rotation and uses a strip-till method which allows him to plant crops directly into the cover crop without tilling the soil, all of which make a significant stewardship impact. To do this and still produce the yields needed, Fredericks cites neonicotinoid treated seed as an important part. “They bring the protection and value to our operation to be able to do these other things we have committed to. Because our operation practices tend to favor more insects and pathogens that can harm a young crop, using treated seed allows us to plant fewer seeds “These tools are very important to growers, and they benefit the environment in many ways ... We need to ensure we do everything we can to protect them and the environment.” — Patrick McCain Soybeans planted into cover crop residue. Pollinator habitats border fields in Iowa.