Banning safe pesticides is bad policy and harmful to farmers

Less than six months after New York surrendered to activists and banned a class of insecticides with a long track record of safe, effective use, Vermont now faces a similar decision. Gov. Phil Scott has an opportunity to veto the legislation rather than follow New York’s ill-advised example.

House Bill H.706, a near carbon-copy of New York’s legislation, sailed through Vermont’s legislature with little debate and insufficient opportunity for the state’s farmers to weigh in. The bill would ban the use of neonicotinoids (“neonics”), a revolutionary class of insecticides applied as seed coatings that allows growers to avoid costly pesticide spraying while targeting only the pests attacking their crops, especially difficult-to-reach underground pests such as the seedcorn maggot. Neonics have saved up to 71% of farmers’ crops worldwide.

The bill is now

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