Beekeepers Speak Out On Pesticides

Pollinator Stewardship Council offers a new series sharing the stories of beekeepers who have been impacted by pesticides. Meet Richard Coy, a second generation beekeeper who's family business was forced to relocate out of state after experiencing considerable colony loss and decreased honey production due to damage from dicamba drift. Faced with overwhelming expenses related to production loss and relocation, he is currently involved in litigation with Bayer and BASF to seek compensation for these damages.

Beekeepers like Richard Coy are doing crucial work to protect bee populations, one of the most critical components of our food system, in seeking to eliminate use of this dangerous product by applying pressure to chemical corporations and regulatory agencies.

Read Richard's Story

Pesticide Regulation in the News

In California, the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) detected residues of the active ingredient imidacloprid (resulting from legal agricultural use) in 15 groundwater wells at concentrations that significantly exceeded the reporting limit of 0.05 parts per billion (ppb), with detected concentrations of 0.051 to 5.97 ppb. At the request of the affected registrants, DPR is conducting a public hearing to determine if the registration of imidacloprid agricultural use products should be allowed to continue. Pollinator Stewardship Council is working with Earthjustice to prepare comments on this critical issue for the upcoming public hearing in March. For more information including the process for submitting comments, visit this site.

On January 18^th 2022, New Jersey legislature and Governor Phil Murphy took a vital step toward the protection of pollinators through the passage of Bill A2070/S1016, banning non-agricultural outdoor use of neonicotinoids. As the majority of outdoor neonicotinoid applications in the state are related to landscaping and lawn care, this regulation could reduce use by an estimated 70%. This groundbreaking legislation sends a strong message to states and regulatory agencies, applying pressure to ban this destructive class of insecticides.

Read the full article here.

With your help we can protect pollinators!

Meet the New Pollinator Stewardship Council Program Director

Jennifer Bryan-Goforth joined PSC as Program Director in late 2021. She has been involved in food access and environmental stewardship for many years in the Pacific Northwest. A longtime organic grower, her farm works to support food sovereignty and resiliency through their seed distro program in which 10,000 packages of open pollinated seed are grown and distributed at no charge each year to food banks, schools, and community garden projects. She comes to PSC with experience as a non-profit executive director and in post-secondary education, mostly related to sustainability and food systems. As a lifelong environmental steward, she is thrilled to have the opportunity to support the critical work of the Pollinator Stewardship council.