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UVM Extension research finds farm practices, not consistent seed-treatment benefit, drive some pest risks; untreated-seed availability a concern ahead of ban
Summary
UVM Extension associate professor Heather Darby told a legislative agriculture committee that combined spring tillage, manure application and plow‑down cover crops sharply raise seed corn maggot risk (over 80% in the worst-case combination in 2025), while multi-site trials found no average difference in seed corn maggot damage between neonic‑treated and untreated seed; some farms showed greater wireworm or grub losses. Senators pressed Darby on untreated‑seed availability ahead of a 2029 ban deadline and on mitigation steps to reduce pollinator exposure.
Heather Darby, an associate professor with UVM Extension, told an unnamed legislative committee on Jan. 27 that recent multi‑site research shows farm practices — notably spring tillage combined with manure and plow‑down cover crops — strongly increase the probability of seed corn maggot damage, while average differences between neonic‑treated and untreated seed were not observed across all trial sites.
"That probability of a farm seeing seed corn maggot damage ... in 2025 was over 80 percent" in fields combining tillage, manure and cover crops, Darby said, noting that high damage probability does not necessarily mean crop failure. "This does not mean the farm is gonna see a crop failure," she added, explaining that high planting populations can allow remaining plants to compensate for losses.
Darby described a three‑year project that placed paired acres of treated and untreated seed at on‑farm sites across Vermont (eight fields in 2024; 15 in 2025, including one research farm) and deployed sticky traps April–July to monitor adult seed corn maggot flights. Across those sites she said the team "did not see any difference in corn populations between…
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