Reducing Risk to Pollinators: Pesticide Use on Rangelands

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Pesticide Use on Rangelands

Protection of pollinators from pesticide use on rangeland primarily revolves around insecticides used for the suppression and control of grasshoppers. From the agricultural viewpoint, pollinators are not valuable for rangeland—there is no crop harvest and therefore no need for pollinators—so pesticide protection does not feature prominently in most guides to grasshopper control. However, many of the pesticides used are recognized as hazardous to bees when used on crops. They carry the following (or a similar) warning in the general introduction:

“This product is highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment on blooming crops or weeds. Do not apply this product or allow it to drift to blooming crops or weeds if bees are visiting the treatment area.”

In the directions for specific crops and usages on some labels, pollinator protection is highlighted for selected crops but not when applied to rangeland, described as “non-agricultural land,” or roadsides and other similar areas for grasshopper control. (For example, see the labels for Sevin 4F [carbaryl] or Atrapa 8E [malathion] at www.greenbook.net). There are a few websites that discuss grasshopper control and mention pollinators. Most give only a brief passing comment, but one, Grasshoppers: Their Biology, Identification, and Management (see below), includes detailed sections on the nontarget impacts of control methods.

Grasshoppers: Their Biology, Identification, and Management , USDA-ARS:

http://www.sidney.ars.usda.gov/grasshopper/index.htm

The most comprehensive guide to the issues surrounding grasshopper control on rangelands. Covers all aspects of chemical and biological suppression methods and includes three sections of particular relevance to pollinator protection:

Section III.3 – Impact of control programs on non-target arthropods, by Mark A. Quinn.

http://www.sidney.ars.usda.gov/grasshopper/Handbook/III/iii_3.htm

Section III.4 – Direct and indirect effects of pesticides on native bees, by D. G. Alston and Vincent J. Tepedino.

http://www.sidney.ars.usda.gov/grasshopper/Handbook/III/iii_4.htm

Section III.5 – The reproductive biology of rare rangeland plants and their vulnerability to insecticides, by Vincent J. Tepedino.

http://www.sidney.ars.usda.gov/grasshopper/Handbook/III/iii_5.htm

2004 Guidelines for Treatment of Rangeland for the Suppression of Grasshoppers and Mormon Crickets, University of Nebraska:

http://entomology.unl.edu/grasshoppers/guidelines%20for%20grasshopper%20program2004.htm

Includes specific procedures for bee (pollinator) protection during aerial spraying operations.

South Dakota Grasshopper Program Manual, South Dakota Department of Agriculture:

Section IX discusses relations and communications with beekeepers. Section X lists the legal responsibilities to protect the environment .

Chemical and Biological Control of Grasshoppers in Utah, Utah State University:

http://extension.usu.edu/files/factsheets/grassho2.pdf

Encourages ranchers to watch for “hotspots” of grasshopper egg laying that can be treated to prevent large scale outbreaks, and their associated large scale control programs. Some of the treatments recommended will have deleterious effects on pollinators such as bees (Nosema, Carbaryl).

This information was assembled by NAPPC’s EPA PESP Task Force in 2004-2005.

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