Pollinator Puzzle Continues to Grow
January 25, 2015
From: AgWeb
By Chris Bennett | Farm Journal, Technology and Issues Editor
Honeybee demise defies simple explanations
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In 15 years, agriculture will have 1 billion more people on the planet to feed. When advocacy groups charge after a single class of chemicals—neonicotinoids—and claim elimination will solve pollinator collapse, they ignore the fact 134 different chemicals have been identified in a single honeybee colony. The European Union restricted neonicotinoid use for two years beginning in December 2013, and some environmental organizations want the U.S. to follow suit.
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“Without neonicotinoids, we’d see corn prices about 25¢ per bushel higher,” he adds. “Also, a lot of land would move from non-crop use into crop production. Higher prices and lower yields equates to more land brought into production. It would be a gain of 350,000 to 400,000 acres—a big chunk of it coming from CRP.”
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