b'A LIFE WITHOUT NEONICSIS THE U.K.S REALITYNeonicotinoids have been controversial and under scrutiny in the U.S. for years. Farmers in the United Kingdom are learning to live with their new reality as they adjust to life without.Ashley RobinsonEditors Note: This piece originally ran in our sister publication,Across the pond, the studies on pollinating insects and Germination, but we at Seed World felt this article was importantinsecticides have caught the attention of North American gov-for our readers to learn about policies in place in the U.K. andernments. In 2016, the Canadian government first proposed a responses when it comes to neonicotinoids.phase-out of all agricultural uses of imidacloprid, as the insec-ticides were accumulating in ponds, creeks and other water THE UNITED KINGDOMmay no longer be part of thebodies near agricultural land. Two years later, the same phase-European Union (EU), but the EUs presence still lingers.out recommendation was made for thiamethoxam and clothiani-Following years of environmental regulations crimping farmingdin. The decision is still pending.practices, farmers are still finding themselves grappling withWhile the United States has no current proposals to ban EU-enacted controls including the ban on neonicotinoid insecti- the use of neonic products, they have been under increased cides which flipped regular farming practices upside down. scrutiny. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has In Britain, farmers have been forced to become creative tobanned 12 products from Syngenta, Valent and Bayer. The EPA try and protect their crops against pest infestations. Despitecurrently allows 47 other neonics to be used, but those could their best efforts, the pests still plague them and theyre stuckbe phased-out in 2022 when they undergo the re-registration waiting on science to catch up to the regulations, says Scottprocess. Some states have also enacted their own personal Cockburn, business manager for Syngenta Crop Protect in therestrictions on neonics.United Kingdom. In the U.K., farmers have struggled with life after neonics for The EU regulations date back to 2013 when the Europeanyears. Cereal crops have been easier to manage, but others, like Council placed restrictions on the use of clothianidin, imidaclo- rapeseed, are challenging and acreage has started to fall. Flea prid, thiamethoxam and fipronil, banning their use on floweringbeetle infestations have been getting worse with larvae now crops which appeal to honeybees and other pollinating insects.being found in the stems of the rapeseed plantsunheard of The decision was made based on studies stating bees werebefore the ban.dying due to the insecticide use. The regulations became moreIts not uncommon to split main stems in early spring and wide-ranging in 2018, with full bans enacted. find 30 larvae in the main stem, Cockburn says. In the worst-42/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2020'