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Oral Presentation
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Student 10-Minute Presentation Competition

Plant-Insect Ecosystems

Student Competition

Student

Grad 10-min Competition: P-IE, Insecticides

Comparing early-season pest abundance and damage between neonicotinoid-treated and untreated (fungicide-only) seeds in field and vegetable crops in New York state

Monday, November 10, 2025
8:00 AM - 8:12 AM Pacific
Location: Oregon Convention Center, E147-148, OCC
Oral Presentation Student Competition
For decades, neonicotinoid-coated seeds have been used to manage soil-dwelling insect pests in many crops. However, legislation in New York State will prohibit the sale and use of neonicotinoid-coated corn, soybean, and wheat seeds beginning on January 1, 2029, unless a waiver is issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. To be eligible for a waiver, farmers must demonstrate documented pest risk through a field assessment. Therefore, measuring how the abundance of early-season insect pests (including seedcorn maggot, Delia platura) and their damage changes in response to the use of untreated (fungicide-only) seeds will be essential. To assess this, we planted one acre of untreated (fungicide-only) seeds and one acre of treated (neonicotinoid and fungicide) seeds on 60 working farms across New York State. These included both field crop and vegetable crop farms. We collected and dissected seeds to quantify pest abundance and damage, measured stand loss, and recorded biomass. Additionally, each field was taken to yield. Other than the seed treatment, all management practices were the same between each pair of fields. Preliminary results from field crops research show that soil-dwelling pest abundance is low in field corn and soybeans. The full results will illustrate how the restriction of neonicotinoid-coated seeds may affect early-season insect pest abundance and damage, stand loss, biomass, and yield in field corn, soybean, sweet corn, and snap bean in New York State. These findings will inform the development of future pest management strategies in response to changing regulations and management options.