Agriculture, Pesticides, and Pollinators in the Mid-South. Sco$ D. Stewart

Transcription

1 Agriculture, Pesticides, and Pollinators in the Mid-South Sco$ D. Stewart

2 Pollinator Health It s Complicated Colony collapse disorder and honey bees (2006) Varroa mites (and treatment for mites) Diseases Management failures Lack of foraging habitat Weather (environment) PesCcides NeonicoCnoid insecccides are receiving the majority of the afencon Seed treatments and planter dust were especially gekng a lot of press But this issue is affeccng all pesccides But this issue is not just about honey bees!

3 Neonicotinoid Treatments Widely used due to several key afributes: Low vertebrate toxicity (very safe to people) Systemic proteccon of plants Ease of adopcon (seed treatments, chemigacon) One- third of cropland acres in the U. S. are treated with at least one of the three neonicocnoids (imidacloprid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam), mostly as seed treatments Seed treatments in the Mid- South: 100% of corn, 99% of cofon, >50% of soybean Widely used in fruits (PUMPKINS), vegetables and ornamentals as seed treatments, drenches, and foliar sprays

4 Insec8cides work and have value

5 Neonics vs. Pollinators Highly toxic to many pollinators Systemic accvity potencal to translocate to pollen or nectar The contact toxicity LD50 of clothianidin in adult honey bees ranges from ng/bee EPA - Acute LOC (Nectar) 5.5 PPB EPA - Acute LOC (Pollen) 168 PPB Sub- lethal effects are a concern but challenging to evaluate

6 A Hot, Political Topic and Considerable Debate Social media and accvists Junk and agenda driven science How big is the pollinator decline? Lack of historical databases Photo via Gilles San Martin

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8 Annual Colony Loss Estimates ( ) hfp://beeinformed.org/2015/05/colony- loss preliminary- results/

9 Regardless of what the science says, the pollinator issue is affecting agriculture Label changes Loss of products Delayed registracon Increased record keeping PrescripCon applicacons?

10 The Bee Team We will try harder for an A Gus Lorenz Don Johnson Jon Zawislak ScoF Stewart Heather Kelly John Skinner Mohamed Alburaki Tom Mueller Mike Studer Don Parker Angus Catchot Jeff Gore Don Cook Jeff Harris John Adamczyk William Meikle Milagra Weiss Adam Whalen Geoffrey Duesterbeck Jonathan Barber Are neonics really a significant contributor to reduced pollinator health?

11 Reviewing what we ve already published Stewart, et al., Environmental Science & Technology, 2014, 48 (16), pp

12 Concentration of neonicotinoids on wild flowers near recently planted fields, 2012 PPB Planter dust appears to be a possible issue How long does this persist? How lethal is this to bees? Can dust be micgated? Mean 10 PPB DistribuCon Histogram Stewart, et al., Environ. Sci. Technol., 2014, 48 (16), pp

13 What is a PPB? 1 second in 32 years 1 foot on the way to the moon 1 bee in 20,000 hives

14 Concentration of neonicotinoids in pre-season soil samples (carry over), NeonicoCnoid insecccides persist in soil at some level for at least 1 year PPB Mean 10 PPB DistribuCon Histogram Stewart, et al., Environ. Sci. Technol., 2014, 48 (16), pp

15 Concentration of neonicotinoids from in-season soil samples (e.g., cotton), 2012 PPB How much is biologically available? How do soil concentracons relate to plant concentracons? AR1 AR2 AR3 TN AR1 AR2 AR3 TN AR1 AR2 AR3 TN Imidacloprid Thiamethoxam Untreated Treatment Stewart, et al., Environ. Sci. Technol., 2014, 48 (16), pp

16 Concentrations stemming from insecticide seed treatments and other findings in 2012 No detec8on of neonicocnoids in nectar of cofon, and average concentracons in pollen was less than the deteccon limit (1 PPB) No detec8on in soybean flowers DetecCon in corn pollen varied from an average of 0.0 to 5.9 PPB depending upon seed treatment and rate Average deteccon in pollen being carried by foraging honey bees was below 1 PPB (2 deteccons of < 1 PPB in 24 samples) Average levels of deteccon in honey bees collected from apiaries were less than the level of deteccon (1 PPB) But two findings above this limit (10 and 48 PPB) Stewart, et al., Environ. Sci. Technol., 2014, 48 (16), pp

17 What else have we been doing?

18 Neonic Concentration in Cotton Leaves Resulting from Gaucho IST Tennessee, 2014 PPB Imidacloprid urea Imidacloprid olefin des nitro Imidacloprid olefin Imidacloprid 5- hydroxy Imidacloprid Average > 99% drop in concentra8on from 1 st leaf to first flower across several tests

19 Neonicotinoid Concentration in Soybean Leaves Resulting from Cruiser IST Mississippi, Clo- ZNG PPB It seems very unlikely these doses are sufficient to affect pollinator health Clo- TZMU Clo- MNG Clothianadin Thiamethoxam Average > 99% drop in concentra8on from cotly. to first flower across several tests

20 Average Neonic Detection Levels in Cotton Pollen Following a Foliar Application Tennessee, 2014 PPB IMIDACLOPRID (ADMIRE PRO) PPB THIAMETHOXAM (CENTRIC) No metabolites No metabolites Days Aqer Treatment Days Aqer Treatment Admire 1.8 oz/acre or 2.5 oz/acre 2 Reps

21 Working More With Bees

22 Honey Bees/Acre by Crop Whalen, et al. (Mississippi State University) P = ??? 30 A B B Corn Co$on Soybeans Pumpkins *Data subjected to log transforma9on

23 Honey Bees/Acre by Time of Day Whalen, et al. (Mississippi State University) B A P < C 0 Mid- Morning Mid- Day Early Evening *Data subjected to log transforma9on

24 Do not apply this product while bees are foraging. Do not apply this product uncl flowering is complete and all petals have fallen unless one of the following condi8ons is met:

25 The applicacon is made to the target site auer sunset The applicacon is made to the target site when temperatures are below 55 F The applicacon is made in accordance with a government- inicated public health response The applicacon is made due to an imminent threat of significant crop loss, and a documented determinacon consistent with an IPM plan or predetermined economic threshold is met. Every effort should be made to no8fy beekeepers no less than 48- hours prior to the Cme of the planned applicacon so that the bees can be removed, covered or otherwise protected prior to spraying.

26 EPA Proposal to Protect Bees from Acutely Toxic Pesticides Proposed RestricCons EPA is proposing to prohibit the applicacons of pesccides that are highly toxic to bees when crops are in bloom and bees are under contract for pollinacon services. These restriccons would prohibit applicacon of most insecccides and some herbicides during bloom. The proposed restriccons would apply to all products that have accve ingredients that have been determined via tescng to have high toxicity for bees (less than 11 micrograms per bee).

27 Bee Awareness Programs Pollinator Protection Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, etc. CommunicaCon, cooperacon, and common sense Voluntary agreement between stakeholder groups Tennessee Aerial Applicators AssociaCon Tennessee Agricultural ProducCon AssociaCon Tennessee Beekeepers AssociaCon Tennessee Department of Agriculture Tennessee Farm Bureau FederaCon Independent Crop Consultants Tennessee Fruit and Vegetable AssociaCon Tennessee Soybean AssociaCon University of Tennessee Extension Tennessee Pollinator Conserva8on Plan

28 Tennessee Pollinator Conservation Plan (DRAFT) Mission Statement Our mission is to develop and promote a voluntary program of cooperacve standards among farmers, beekeepers, and pesccide applicators when bees are located in or near crop produccon areas to ensure the compacbility of crop produccon, apiculture, and pollinator health.

29 Considerations for Beekeepers Hive Iden8fica8on: The beekeeper should have a placard placed on a prominent hive within an apiary that clearly idencfies the owner of the hives with emergency contact informacon. This placard should be highly visible from a distance. Apiary Loca8ons: In any strong working cooperacve agreement between farmers and beekeepers, all parces will discuss proper hive locacons on or adjacent to the farm property where the bees will be kept beforehand. It is encouraged that beekeepers provide GPS coordinates Bee Aware Flag: All parces should work together to select a prominent locacon for the Bee Aware Flag that will be visible to applicators from the air or ground.

30 Considerations for Farmers and Pesticide Applicators No8fy Ground & Aerial Applicators of Hive Loca8on(s): The farmer should make his employees (or other contractual parces) aware of all apiary locacons and the associated bee flags on the farm property or adjacent property and should nocfy his aerial applicator (if applicable) of apiaries on farm property as well. Timing of Insec8cide Applica8ons: When possible, especially when bees are accvely foraging, farmers should consider applying insecccides as late in the aqernoon as possible on fields that are near hive locacons. SelecCng this Cme to apply insecccides in sensicve areas near hives will help micgate many risks of bee losses. Further, Wind Direc8on: InsecCcides should only be made when driq onto bee hives is not likely (e.g., when winds are blowing away from the hive locacons.

31 Other Elements of the Plan Stakeholder ParCcipaCon Process Public Outreach Review and ModificaCon Mechanism to Measure EffecCveness

32 Tips for Protecting Pollinators and Pumpkins Communicate with beekeepers. Remember that unlike cofon, corn, soybean, wheat and many other field crops, pumpkins require insect pollinacon. Place and orient any bee hives to encourage pollinacon but reduce accidental exposure of hives to pesccide driq. Spray pesccides later in the day aqer flowers have closed. Pay afencon to wind direccon to avoid driqing on hives. When feasible, use effeccve insecccides that have low toxicity to bees (looks for the bee). Follow the label and do not exceed legal use rates (or season totals).

33 Bees and Agriculture Can Coexist The honey bee is not going excnct! You will not starve! We need agriculture and bees It s not just agriculture being affected (nursery and ornamental industry) Zero risk does not exist (some bees will die) There are problems to fix (e.g., dust issue, driq of foliar- applied insecccides, increased awareness) Can beekeepers and farmers coexist?

34 Acknowledgements The growers of Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi provided a large percentage of the funding AR, MS, and TN Soybean PromoCon Boards MS Corn PromoCon Board NaConal CoFon Council and CoFon Incorporated USDA ARS Beekeepers in AR, MS, and TN