[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6228326,"mediaKeyId","3475998-1e99b3ebb6d239306661613202c0f9b8","parentId",3475998,"title","Vermont beekeeper tells committee draft neonic rules lack IPM thresholds, urges stronger disposal, notification and aerial‑spray limits","audioSeconds",1583,"startMs",57670,"endMs",1640700,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3475998-1e99b3ebb6d239306661613202c0f9b8&start=57&end=1640","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3475998-1e99b3ebb6d239306661613202c0f9b8/thumbnail_57670.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6228326/Vermont/Vermont-beekeeper-tells-committee-draft-neonic-rules-lack-IPM-thresholds-urges-stronger-disposal-notification-and-aerialspray-limits","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6228326-c044ca59df0bc93d20e863839001b1de/orig.mp4?Expires=1773530718&Signature=kbaj-hFYYqncMnewLkepIYPSqev5iUCQFQ4Immqxh2dAFw53CdcjJkELwDTf~D2ZSDzvq6oHkd3~AAmrcF4ttc2yMujQCAt73E1bc0BGyVSuo6NkJZVkqJYHYZeFW4Ojz6JUGZffyhm1XOpOw2jXZIZMjrDoo-f3TJgr8zqUdWUrqESiYs4-PE8oOv4~WpjY2zgcAb1PX9b7rBNhR6~~x7NxEbwg6CyLNQB~~gQH6BZw9~KDtp~SHvUO0tvfM1awZQLukIwakUPFewmq2voahcUvfZe9V8fSZSUUWuY1H3RCxharwGSdPKlcogc8WfiHIu-aiIz5o8-xNiRLts0rjQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-05-23T23:52:58.037Z","article","Andrew Munkress, a commercial beekeeper from Cornwall and the immediate past president of the Vermont Beekeepers Association, told the Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry committee that draft agency rules implementing H.706 do not reflect how integrated pest management operates in the field and omit clear action thresholds that would justify insecticide use.

Why it matters: Munkress said the missing thresholds undermine the point of IPM and leave beekeepers exposed to systemic seed treatments that persist in soil and water and can poison pollinators across the season.

Munkress said the draft definition of integrated pest management in the rules is “boilerplate” and “doesn’t include the 4 basic steps,” starting with a clear action threshold. He told lawmakers that, in practice, beekeepers accept annual colony losses and that “the general agreed upon threshold is somewhere between 15–25% loss of colonies,” a level he said would normally justify stronger control measures in crop IPM frameworks.

He criticized language in the draft that describes best management practices as recommended actions available “where reasonable and practical,” saying that many provisions “should say shall rather than should” and that making measures voluntary through 2029 leaves beekeepers at continued risk. The draft BMPs mentioned in testimony are set to begin as recommendations on July 1, 2025, with a statutory ban referenced for 2029.

On disposal of treated seed, Munkress said burying leftover seed is unsafe because neonicotinoids are water soluble and persistent and recommended sealing leftover seed in a clay‑lined landfill rather than on‑site burial. He told the committee he had seen “spectacular bee kills when neonics have been disposed of incorrectly throughout the country.”

Munkress urged a ban on aerial applications of neonics in the rules, saying drift from aerial sprays creates unacceptable risk to honeybees and native pollinators and that, if broadcast spraying is permitted, ground application is less likely to drift into adjacent habitat. He said, “VBA would really like to see the aerial spraying of neonics banned in the rulemaking process.”

On notification, Munkress noted a draft communication section that would require 48 hours’ advance notice to apiculturists “who have established apiary on the premises.” He told the committee that a planting‑event notice is of limited use because neonic exposure occurs over months through dust, nectar and pollen uptake and that effective notification should be tied to exemptions to the ban rather than to planting events. “If I got a notification from a farmer saying ... I got an exemption to plant clothianidin treated seed in this field that’s 500 yards from your apiary, then I would have the choice,” he said, arguing that notice at the time an exemption is granted would allow beekeepers to move colonies before planting.

Munkress recommended that notification be distance‑based because pesticides “don’t respect property lines,” citing pollen tests showing impacts from roughly a half‑mile up to 1.5 miles and noting Vermont regulations that generally have beekeepers register apiaries and space them two miles apart. He suggested using existing mapping tools such as FieldWatch or the Agency of Agriculture’s apiary map to automate notices to beekeepers within a proposed radius.

Committee members asked about sublethal and cumulative effects of neonics; Munkress agreed that damage is often “death by a thousand cuts,” describing how low‑level neonic residues in pollen can weaken queens, reduce brood productivity and cause colonies to dwindle over a season. He cited a tested apiary that recorded 9.5 parts per billion of imidacloprid and clothianidin in pollen and said all 34 hives in that yard were dead by fall.

This was testimony and discussion only; no committee action or vote occurred. Munkress said the Vermont Beekeepers Association intends to submit comments during the public comment period when agency BMPs are posted, and committee members said they will continue to monitor the rulemaking process.

The committee heard related testimony earlier in the session from representatives of the Xerces Society and from Agency of Natural Resources staff; witnesses and lawmakers referenced Act 182 and H.706 as the legislative basis for the rules now in agency rulemaking.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry - 2025-05-22 - 10:35","oneSentenceSummary","Andrew Munkress, a commercial beekeeper from Cornwall and the immediate past president of the Vermont Beekeepers Association, told the Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry committee that draft agency rules implementing H.706 do not reflect how integrated pest management operates in the field and omit clear action thresholds that would justify insecticide use.","taxTitle","Agriculture, Food Resiliency, & Forestry, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative , Vermont","taxId",36721,"location","Vermont","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6228321,"Federal delegation staff warn SNAP, Medicaid and farm programs face major risk; tariffs disrupting Vermont trade and maple supply chains",2226,1672695,3899099,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3475998-1e99b3ebb6d239306661613202c0f9b8&start=1672&end=3899","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3475998-1e99b3ebb6d239306661613202c0f9b8/thumbnail_1672695.jpg","/articles/6228321/Vermont/Federal-delegation-staff-warn-SNAP-Medicaid-and-farm-programs-face-major-risk-tariffs-disrupting-Vermont-trade-and-maple-supply-chains","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6228321-ac78caefba427a909c43eed0ea397c5b/orig.mp4?Expires=1773530718&Signature=aDHvaiLsKM2MK44iyb~3KgVLLpRFJ703KJ~BZusRUdg8ihGuyOD0-ybmDhI8QruQCxCpMlpSOAo9PClEYL~UyM4owcGcgdtGE6IVml8yHnAaYrXdC9r2T4b-0IbUdC312FnE-ThryN-014bCWuOHLCYOQx1WryzPlZI50P9AidA3KT9l8PvErwMGUNJ4VeXFSMcfm9OhaLEX8T3i7K9w0xoOhGce7C3bn9Hl8vL2P-vYb1vMRmMKWk-I3b6ow1VT-TlOSYJD~TOtZcamhgJV2lPkE5QLztEXjSeydHbDul4OGUGd4bj6tDeHQwrMW1slpAsuliYLXv~4UXU20U~1Ng__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Catherine Van Hayes, state director for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Ryan McLaren, senior advisor for U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, briefed the Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry committee on a budget reconciliation bill in the U.S. Congress and on a new round of tariffs announced in April that officials said are disrupting Vermont commerce.

Why it matters: Committee members were told the House‑passed reconciliation bill contains provisions that could substantially reduce SNAP and Medicaid support and that tariff measures and rapid changes at the border are increasing costs for agricultural inputs and small food‑sector businesses in Vermont.

Van Hayes told the committee the House passed the reconciliation bill with a late, 42‑page amendment and that it now goes to the Senate. She described provisions that could “have a pretty substantial budget impact for the state of Vermont” if Medicaid and SNAP funding are reduced, noting states must balance budgets and would face consequential shortfalls if federal support is cut.

McLaren said that, because much of the usual farm‑bill work has been deferred, elements that would normally be considered in a farm bill are being folded into reconciliation, reducing the prospect of a standalone farm‑bill rewrite this year. He warned the committee that uncertainty and rapidly changing tariff rules are already increasing costs for Vermont producers and suppliers and said the “uncertainty’s being priced in.” He summarized the border situation bluntly: “it’s absolute madness.”

Both staffers offered state‑level data. Van Hayes said Vermont imports about $3.5 billion in goods annually and that Canada accounts for a large share of that trade: roughly 35% of Vermont exports and 67% of imports. She said agricultural products make up about 30% of imports from Canada, worth just under $500 million, and that animal feed accounts for about $56 million of that total. She also said Vermont exports about $645 million to Canada and that trade with Canada supports roughly 17,000 jobs in Vermont.

McLaren and Van Hayes described specific tariff impacts: potash, a fertilizer, is subject to a 10% tariff; some animal feed is not covered by USMCA exemptions and therefore faces higher costs; and antibiotic test kits used in the dairy industry are seeing tariff pressure (Van Hayes cited 10% with the EU and 30% with China). Van Hayes also referenced a Yale Budget Lab estimate of the household cost to Vermonters from tariffs, which she summarized as tens of millions of dollars annually.

They gave manufacturing and supply examples. McLaren described maple‑sugaring equipment and parts crossing the border in complex ways that leave producers unsure what tariffs will apply when equipment reaches the customs officer: “that evaporator is made up of huge chunks of metal ... and the people moving that piece of equipment ... have no idea what they’re gonna have to pay until they get to the border.” Van Hayes and McLaren named small businesses already affected, including Gardner Supply and Caledonia Distilling, and said one producer’s glass bottles came from Italy and were caught up in tariffs. McLaren also cited Farm Credit Service of America data showing farm machinery prices rose far faster than inflation over recent decades and said those trends will be exacerbated by tariff disruption.

On SNAP and other safety‑net programs, Van Hayes warned the committee that proposed changes could shift administrative burdens to states and create large fiscal impacts if the reconciliation bill becomes law. Both staffers urged lawmakers to document state‑level impacts and constituent stories; McLaren asked the committee to collect and forward local examples because “the stories are really helpful in demonstrating ... the impact.”

No federal action was taken at the committee meeting; the session was an informational briefing. Committee members discussed next steps and the chair suggested drafting a letter summarizing state concerns for the federal delegation. Van Hayes and McLaren said Senate committees will produce more detailed analyses and that Vermont officials should press for state‑level impact estimates to send to the delegation.","Catherine Van Hayes, state director for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Ryan McLaren, senior advisor for U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, told the Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry committee that a House‑passed budget reconciliation bill could cut SNAP and Medicaid funding and that new tariffs announced in April are already disrupting Vermont agricultural inputs and small food businesses.","actionData","errors"]

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Vermont beekeeper tells committee draft neonic rules lack IPM thresholds, urges stronger disposal, notification and aerial‑spray limits

Federal delegation staff warn SNAP, Medicaid and farm programs face major risk; tariffs disrupting Vermont trade and maple supply chains