The seed industry and growers are closely watching legislation in Vermont that would ban corn and soybean seeds treated with neonicotinoids. Critics say it would make it more difficult for growers to control pest pressure and use conservation practices such as no-till and cover crops.

More than that, adoption of the Vermont legislation a year after New York passed a bill on which it is based, has sparked concern that other states will follow suit.

“I think it’s more than likely we’re going to see a bill in Vermont,” said Brad Mitchell, leader of Northeast affairs for neonic manufacturer Syngenta. “And that I think will probably trigger more bills, particularly in the Northeast.”

The debate centers on the impacts of neonics, which are used to coat virtually all corn and most soybean seeds sold nationwide. Supporters of the legislation say research has shown that the insecticides harm bees, both commercial and wild, and birds, leading to declining populations.

“Tiny amounts of neonicotinoid insecticides – 5 to 10 parts per billion – have sublethal effects that doom a colony to death during the coming winter,” the Vermont Beekeepers Association said in a statement arguing for the legislation.

Bill proponents, including environmental groups, point to studies showing little to no economic benefit from neonics. They cite a Cornell University report in 2020 that found “seed treatments benefit farmers when there is high early-season pest pressure, [but] these benefits are limited to a small proportion of fields.”

Testifying on the Vermont bill, Scott McArt, Cornell assistant professor of pollinator health, a co-author of the study, pointed to research showing corn and soybean yields in Canada’s Ontario province, have increased since neonic-treated seeds were banned in 2017. The law nonetheless allows growers to use them when there is a “demonstrated risk of a pest problem,” he said.

Similarly, New York’s law, slated to go into effect in 2029, would allow the state to grant waivers to growers who can show they would face pest threats without neonic-treated seeds. The law also would require growers to complete training in integrated pest management.

Vermont’s bill is modeled on New York’s, and even includes a provision that says the treated seed restrictions won’t go into effect until New York’s law does. 

Vermont’s House and Senate have both passed the bill overwhelmingly, suggesting that lawmakers could override a veto if Republican Gov. Phil Scott were to veto it the bill.

In the state House, Rep. Heather Surprenant, a farmer, explained her vote in favor of the legislation by saying that opponents were underestimating farmers’ ability to adapt.

“I voted yes to ensure my future in this industry,” she said.

The American Seed Trade Association cites research by AgInfomatics that found, without seed treatment, “U.S. cropped land would need to increase between 340,000 and 410,000 acres to offset losses in yield and quality, much of which would come from the Conservation Reserve Program, environmentally sensitive land established to preserve water, soil and wildlife.”

Others in the industry also are worried about the impacts on agriculture. Addressing the “pest pressure” issue, Syngenta’s Mitchell said many farmers use the seeds “prophylactically.”

Steve Dwinell, director of public health and the agricultural resource management division in the Vermont Department of Agriculture, said he is concerned about whether there will be enough non-treated seed for growers and about how growers will control pests without them.

“The pest problems have not gone away,” he said. “So if the pests can’t be controlled with the insecticide that’s on the seed, then there’s the possibility that the growers are going to have to use other pesticides to control the pests, which may have a bigger impact on the bees.”

He also points to the Vermont’s continuing loss of farmland. The 1974 Census of Agriculture showed about 1.67 million acres of farmland; the 2022 census shows 1.17 million acres.

“My concern about the restrictions on the use of the seed is that they may increase the production costs, or reduce the ability to produce enough crop,” he says. “And these farms will be under more economic pressure, and then we’ll lose more farms, and then we’ll have fewer resources for pollinators.” 

David Degolyer, an agronomist in upstate New York, said the way neonic-treated seeds are applied –  in minimal amounts, with precision and at the right time – helps ensure that there is minimal impact to the environment.

He also said that technology such as deflectors is highly effective at preventing dust from being kicked up into the air and spreading beyond the fields.

Degolyer says there is a “legitimate concern” about off-site movement of dust during planting, but that “most of the new planters have that taken care of.” For older planters, he advises, “Just purchase the deflectors. That solves the issue.”

He adds that he’s worried farmers will have to use tillage to bury eggs of seed corn maggots, which are especially fond of organic material such as compost as well as manure, a commodity in ample supply in dairy-rich Vermont.

“The seed corn maggot could be a really huge problem,” he says. “They fly in, they look for cover crops, they look for winter annuals like chickweed” to lay their eggs and start feeding on seeds, he said.

Elson Shields, a retired Cornell entomology professor, has written that “the frequent use of animal manures and cover crops known as green manure crops increases the attractiveness of the fields” to seed corn maggots.

Richard Nelson, a Vermont dairy farmer and corn grower who opposes the bill, says without neonic seeds, farmers would have to turn to older chemistries.

“We can use other stuff in-furrow,” he says. However, he adds, “It’s nasty, and it’s going to have the same effects.” 

He and Syngenta’s Mitchell also warn that laws restricting neonic-coated seeds would result in a lack of available seeds.

“The supply chain is pretty complicated.” Mitchell said, making it difficult to start creating specialized seed for different markets.

Mitchell also points to recent recommendations from the state’s Agricultural Innovation Board that focused on research and education on neonics.

“The board recommends actions to further understand the issues within Vermont, help educate growers about practices to limit pest pressure or reduce non-target exposure, and promote ongoing or planned research,” the AIB’s January report on neonics said.

Dwinell says farmers and beekeepers need to communicate to ensure pesticides are not harming bees. “The folks who grow apples or blueberries or vegetables are very careful about when and where they apply pesticides to avoid harming bees,” he said.

Nelson says he believes it’s unlikely that seed companies will adjust to demand just because of laws in New York and Vermont. Together the two states make up a fraction of the corn acres in the U.S. – about 1 million out of about 90 million. 

“I’m starting to feel like Davy Crockett in in the Alamo,” said Nelson, who added that he plans to run for the legislature. 

“I’m filling out the paperwork right now,” he said May 6.

For more news, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com.

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – The Vermont Green regular season is just weeks away, but on Tuesday, the club announced there could be an additional squad coming to Vermont.

VGFC will field a women’s team for an exhibition match against FC Laval in June 22 at Virtue Field. The team – who will announce open tryout details later – will include UVM players Jill Brody, Laney Ross, Bailey Ayer and Maddy Cronin, as well as Pittsford native Olivia White.

Vermont Green also said it has ‘begun the process of exploring the path to adding a women’s program,’ with guidance from an advisory committee, featuring UVM head coach Kristi Huizenga and US Women’s National Team member Sam Mewis.

“We’re so excited to feature this historic match in June. It will serve as a celebration of women’s soccer in our state—honoring the history and enthusiasm for the sport here—and show our commitment to growing the women’s game” VGFC co-founder Matthew Wolff said in a release. “Knowing our community, we think this could be one of the biggest events of the summer.”

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Sean Richards didn’t intend to open a biscuit restaurant. His plan for Queen City Café was wide-ranging — breakfast, lunch and dinner — and built around simple, seasonal wood-fired fare, including rôtisserie chickens and whole-roasted cauliflower.

But almost as soon as he fired up the 10-by-12-foot oven in the former Myer’s Bagels spot on Pine Street, Richards’ biscuits became a thing. In the month since opening, he and his team have baked up to 150 per day in cast-iron pans, rotating around the oven’s hot spots. As the neighboring outdoor Burlington Farmers Market returns for the season this weekend, he expects that number could grow to 500 fluffy, flaky, perfectly fired rounds on a busy Saturday.

“It’s a terrible business idea to cook biscuits in a wood oven,” Richards joked. “It’s the hardest thing ever to get right.”

Complicated as the setup may be, he and his team are nailing it. Richards, 41, grew up in Fair Haven but spent a good chunk of his early career cooking in Tennessee, both in Knoxville and at Blackberry Farm in the Great Smoky Mountains. He knows his way around a biscuit. And for now, they’ve become Queen City Café’s main focus, whether sandwiching eggs and wood-fired bacon for breakfast or mopping up hearty chicken soup at lunch.

The change is partly because they’re so popular, he said, and partly because his initial schedule was unsustainable. The café’s grand opening was April 4, just in time for the April 8 eclipse. Richards went all in on breakfast, lunch and dinner, pulling a long shift from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day.

“I worked myself almost to death,” he said.

The chef — whose previous gigs range from cooking on the road for touring musicians to running several high-profile kitchens in Vermont, including Prohibition Pig, ArtsRiot, Philo Ridge Farm and the Inn at Round Barn Farm — had to temporarily step away from his brand-new restaurant. Friends and family took over: His mom worked the register, his dad did dishes, his brother learned how to make biscuits, and his 70-year-old neighbor waited tables.

Barge Canal Market owners Adelle Lawrence and Jeremy Smith, the latter of whom is Richards’ childhood friend, kept things running and “made me not come here for four days,” Richards said. “It was driving me crazy, but it’s what needed to happen, and I’m the luckiest person in the world.”

click to enlarge

• Daria Bishop
• Chef Sean Richards

With a more manageable schedule and a more robust staff, Richards is back on track. He was fortunate — and a little surprised, he said — to find a team of cooks who have wood-oven experience. The temperature needs to hover around 450 degrees to bake the biscuits and cook chickens, but it gets much hotter near the central steel beam. Managing it and moving cast-iron pans full of biscuits to the right spots “takes a lot of training,” he said.

Most of those pans are from Tennessee, too. Richards started a collection while he worked down there, taking regular trips to the Lodge Cast Iron outlet near Dollywood, singer Dolly Parton’s theme park. To keep up with biscuit production, he added cast-iron sheet pans to the more than two dozen skillets he already had.

The Orleans family, who own the building, have dubbed 377 Pine Street the Coal Collective — a nod to its history as Citizens Coal Company in the early 1900s. It’s now a hub for all things fun and delicious in the South End, including the Pinery’s seasonal beer garden and the South End Get Down block party, which returns on Friday, May 17.

“That’s why I wanted this space — to build my life around this part of town,” said Richards, who lives half a mile away.

Queen City Café has photos of the buildings’ past on its walls, adding to the stately library-like setting conceived by Barge Canal’s Lawrence and Smith. An overstuffed leather couch and chairs, spacious tables, lots of outlets, and Wi-Fi make the café a great spot to linger over work or catch up with friends.

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• Daria Bishop
• The dining room at Queen City Café

Unfortunately, I was in a rush when I stopped for breakfast last week, having underestimated the construction on Pine Street. But the smell of bacon cooking in the wood oven calmed me as soon as I walked in. I ordered the vegan breakfast sandwich ($7, plus $2 for vegan sausage), though ironically I got it with regular egg and cheese on the advice of a friend, who said the fully vegan version she tried could use a little fat. I ate it in a meeting, so engrossed in the biscuit’s soft flakes that I may now have a writing assignment I don’t know about.

Armed with a little bit of Crisco and a recipe he developed for nondairy buttermilk, Richards could fool the biggest butter lovers among us. It wasn’t just a good vegan biscuit — it was a good biscuit.

While Queen City serves breakfast until 2 p.m., the biscuits also shine in the lunch menu’s chicken and biscuits ($12). Richards called the creamy, flavor-packed stew “an old-school Vermont thing that church ladies in Fair Haven used to cook,” though the café’s version is “gussied up a little bit.”

Whichever meal you go for, Queen City’s menu blends old-school Vermont dishes with the chef’s southern influence and almost sneaky touches, such as eggs fried in roasted garlic oil, and fingerling potatoes tossed with ramps on the pickup-only dinner menu that relaunched over the weekend (available Thursday and Friday, 4 to 7 p.m.).

The result is comforting, simple-seeming fare that’s lighter and more complicated than it appears — bacon-and-cheese-laden biscuits aside.