There have been strong responses to Defra's stance on neonicotinoid treatments following the new research published today by the UK’s Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP) in which they concluded that “Exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides under field conditions can have an unacceptable effect on honeybee health. Such unacceptable effects are occurring at a landscape level and between seasons.”

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Bayer reacted strongly to the announcement by Michael Gove MP today that he will 'in principle' support the European Commission's proposal to ban the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments in non-flowering crops.

Dr Julian Little, a spokesperson for Bayer in the UK, said: "This is a bizarre decision and one that flies in the face of sound science. The Government's own UK Biodiversity Indicators published only this summer show that butterfly, bee and hover fly population numbers have stabilised since 2011 and this was confirmed only earlier this week in response to a Parliamentary question. The suggestion that the extension of this ban to non-flowering crops, which pollinating insects do not visit, will somehow improve the health of bees is farcical.

"We do know from talking to farmers that such a ban would seriously impact the UK's ability to grow high quality wheat, barley, sugar beet and some vegetable crops, just as UK farmers are trying to gear up to life after European subsidies. Farmers will have to resort to older chemical sprays to control damaging insect pests rather than the targeted seed treatments currently employed, and will have to use much larger quantities of slug pellets, just at the time when we are trying to reduce their use. 

"Today's decision is therefore a kick in the teeth for UK agriculture: it makes farmers less competitive, it means less environmentally friendly chemicals being used in the countryside, it means no improvement in the lot of bees or other pollinators, and it says to the green lobby that if you make enough noise, you can trump evidence-based policy making.”

Dr Chris Hartfield, NFU acting chief science and regulatory affairs adviser, said: “Farmers are acutely aware that bees play a crucial role in food production. Farmers rely on bees to pollinate crops and have planted around 10,000 football pitches of flower habitat across the country to support a healthy bee population and give them a good home.

“We deeply regret the decision the Government has taken on this issue as we don’t believe the evidence justifies this abrupt change in policy. We will continue to speak to the Government about how the impact of the decision can best be mitigated so that farmers can maintain sustainable and productive cropping systems.”

More reaction can be found in our earlier article https://farming.co.uk/…/Total-ban-on-insect-harming-pestici…