Almost all the corn (and wheat and soybean) seeds
planted in North America are coated with
neonicotinoid pesticides (and sometimes
fungicides). Dust generated from the mechanical
seed planting machinery has caused bee kills.
Request for Proposals January 2014
Pollinator Partnership Corn Dust Research Consortium
2014 Research
Call for Research Proposals Related to
Reducing Honey Bee Exposure to Dust Emitted
During Planting of Treated Corn Seeds
Background
The Pollinator Partnership has formed a Corn Dust
Research Consortium (CDRC) to fund, oversee, and
advise on two proposed research projects to
further our understanding of best management
practices for mitigating seed treatment exposure
to honey bees during corn planting. The
Pollinator Partnership has issued CDRC
invitations to stakeholders from crop protection,
seed production, farm equipment, corn growing,
beekeeping, academic, governmental and conservation organizations.
The first year of research is complete and the
report has been released
(<http://www.pollinator.org/PDFs/CDRCfinalreport2013.pdf>http://www.pollinator.org/PDFs/CDRCfinalreport2013.pdf).
For the second year, the Corn Dust Research
Consortium is seeking research proposals from
North American researchers to continue to address
the two identified research questions concerning
honey bees' exposure during planting to dust from
seeds treated with pesticides.
Research Priorities and Funding
We anticipate funding up to 4 proposals (from
pooled resources of $320,000) that address one or
both of two initiatives: Project 1- Use by Honey
Bees of Flowering Resources In and Around
Cornfields, and Project 2 - Efficacy of Seed Lubricant Products.
The Consortium will allocate the funding between
the two project questions based on the proposals
received. Proposals will be considered that
address either or both questions. Funds must be
used within an eight-month period (March 2014 to
November 2014). Focused, targeted projects with
a high likelihood of providing tangible results
that can be applied to best management practices
for mitigating seed treatment exposure to honey
bees are preferred. Proposals providing valuable
extensions of previously funded projects by CDRC
or others will be considered. Proposals that
involve replication of or direct analysis of
working field conditions and standard planting
equipment and procedures are preferred. The
projects will be funded for one year, with
discussion of extensions to be considered in the fall of 2014.
Background and Specifics
The Corn Dust Research Consortium has identified
two priority areas for funding. Principal
Investigators may apply to address either or both of the proposed projects.
A number of ideas for reducing exposure to
planter-emitted dust from treated seeds have been
proposed (please see Issue Overview on page 6). These include:
1) development of seed coatings that reduce
the amount of toxic dust abraded from the seeds,
2) management of flowering plants in fields
prior to planting and management of drift during
planting to reduce the likelihood that bees will
come in contact with seed dust deposits,
3) modification of planting equipment to
either limit the amount of dust released into the
air or direct emitted dust toward the ground so
that the potential for off-site drift is reduced,
4) development and use of seed lubricants
that reduce the amount of dust abraded from treated seeds,
5) confining bees to hives on days when nearby fields are planted, and
6) using untreated seeds and managing pests in a different way.
Proposed Research Projects
While there may be a role for all of these
mitigation approaches, an immediate need for
research on points 2 and 4 (in bold above) has been identified.
Project 1: Use by honey bees of flowering
resources in and around cornfields during spring
planting and how this behavior can be effectively
managed to reduce exposure to pesticide dust and residues.
In 2013, three separate research teams, funded by
the CDRC, worked to develop a greater
understanding of the use by honey bees of
flowering cover crops and weeds in and around
cornfields during spring planting season and how
this is influenced by vegetation management
practices. The report of their preliminary
findings and provisional recommendations is found
beginning on page 16 at:
<http://www.pollinator.org/PDFs/CDRCfinalreport2013.pdf>http://www.pollinator.org/PDFs/CDRCfinalreport2013.pdf
The ultimate goal for the CDRC is to develop
recommendations for best management practices
that growers can follow in order to minimize
exposure of forager honey bees to seed dust while
maintaining as much forage for honey bees as
possible. This may involve a trade-off of
promoting presence of these flowering plants at
some times and locations and their removal via
herbicide applications at other times and locations.
The CDRC anticipates that the research methods
will replicate methods used in the first years
research which include trapping pollen at
sentinel hives placed in landscapes dominated by
cornfields to determine the relative use by bees
of different kinds of plants, direct observations
of honey bee visits to flowers in and around
fields, and surveying corn growers and fields to
determine current vegetation management
practices. Some existing and potential
practices, i.e. removal of flowering plants, may
adversely affect native bee communities, an issue not addressed in this RFP.
Project 2: Efficacy of Seed Lubricant Products
The second research project is to evaluate the
effectiveness of a new seed lubricant product
that has been developed by Bayer CropScience. The
CDRC is looking to reproduce initial work
conducted at the University of Guelph in
2013. The project proposes measuring deposition
levels of pesticide dust in and around fields
when commercially available neonicotinoid-treated
corn seed products are planted using this new
seed lubricant product in comparison to standard
lubricants (talc and graphite). Such
measurements should be made with a range of
negative pressure pneumatic planter types in
several corn-growing regions (e.g., several major
corn-growing states or provinces).
As the time frame of this study is short and the
planting season is rapidly approaching, BCS or
Syngenta field personnel can aid in locating and
signing up cooperating corn growers; however, to
the extent practicable, Principal Investigators
are encouraged to use independently-solicited
contacts. BCS will provide the new seed lubricant
product as well as technical support for its use
free of charge to study personnel.
Each cooperating grower would plant two fields
with the same planter, seed type and seed
treatment. On one field the standard lubricant
(talc and/or graphite) for the planter type would
be used, while the new BCS lubricant product
would be used on the other field. Lubricants
should be added to and mixed with the
pesticide-treated seeds in the planter hopper per
label directions and after mixing, a sample of
the seeds should be collected for possible later
laboratory analysis of dust and active ingredient
using a Heubach dustmeter. Study personnel will
establish study locations and sampling devices
prior to planting and measure the amount of
pesticide active ingredient in dust deposited at
sampling stations in and around the
field. Stations should be located within and at
prescribed distances downwind from each test field.
At each station, samples should be collected at
various heights above ground. The order in which
the two lubricant types are used and the fields
to which they are applied should be determined
randomly, and the pneumatic system of the planter
should be cleaned of any leftover lubricant
powder and seed debris before each of the fields is planted.
Collected samples will be analyzed to determine
the amount of active ingredient deposited on
sampling devices per unit area (i.e., the
measurement needs to be able to be converted to
µg a.i./m2). Evaluations of each planter and
seed treatment type should be replicated at least
three times in each region studied. Principal
Investigators will be encouraged to confer with
the 2013 PI and with the CDRC to discuss study
design elements that have proven successful in previous studies.
Geographic Scope
The intent is to evaluate factors that can reduce
honey bee exposure to corn seed dust in the US
Midwest and all North American corn production
areas and in the main corn growing areas of
Canada. Ideally, field investigations should be
replicated in multiple locations in these regions.
Quality Assurance
The research does not need to be conducted in
strict compliance with Good Laboratory Practice
requirements, but should be conducted in
accordance with the spirit of GLP requirements
which include preparation of a written study
protocol and standard operating procedures for
data collection prior to study initiation,
recording and maintenance of raw data, and
documentation of any deviations from the protocol or SOPs that occurred.
The goal is to produce peer-reviewed published
papers to advance the understanding of the issue
broadly and transparently. We encourage budgets
to provide for photographic/videographic capture
of the study as it is being conducted as a means
to demonstrate the methods and to communicate
results to wide-ranging audiences, from practical
advice for producers and beekeepers, to economic
analysis for agribusiness, to reproducible
science for the research community, and to
general interest for the broader public.
Research Constraints and Reporting
So that results are representative of real-world
corn planting scenarios, field work should be
conducted mainly during the spring corn planting
season (April-May). In addition to conclusions
and analysis, a copy of original datasets will be
made available for researchers to use in the
future. Reports from both projects are needed by
end of November 2014 in order to be incorporated
into recommendations communicated to beekeepers
and corn growers for the 2015 planting
season. Such recommendations may need to be
provisional pending additional research during
the 2014 and 2015 planting seasons.
Project Oversight
The Corn Dust Research Consortium has been formed
to review proposals and oversee the project
execution, including review and comment on study
protocols, draft reports and presentation
materials prior to their execution and public
release. Final decisions on technical
interpretation of the study findings and content
of study reports, publications and presentations
will be made by study personnel; however, it is
important for the CDRC to confer with the PI and
to examine and understand all processes and
results. The role of the Corn Dust Research
Consortium on these matters will be advisory
only. The Corn Dust Research Consortium intends
to include at least one representative from each
primary sponsoring organization (industry,
beekeeping, academia, government, and
conservation). The CDRC will also seek input
from regulatory agencies, including the US
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the
Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA).
Proposal Requirements
1) Cover page including:
a. Project or projects the proposal will
address (Project 1, Project 2 or both.)
b. Contact information including e-mail(s),
physical mailing address, and telephone number(s).
2) A 4-page (maximum) project description for
each project proposal being submitted with
sufficient background and description of methods
to ascertain the importance and feasibility of
the studies. Please use Arial, 12-pt font,
single spaced, with page numbers. References are
not included in this page limit. If the proposal
combines the two projects, the limit would be 8 pages.
3) Detailed budget that includes funds for
the Principal Investigator and a research
timeline by month (approximately March 2014 to November 2014).
4) 2-page CV of the Principal Investigator(s).
5) Please include funding details if the
proposal is under consideration by other funding organizations.
Submission
E-mail your proposal packet as a single PDF file
to Jennifer Tsang
(<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]) by
3PM PDT on Monday, March 3, 2014.
Please identify the e-mail subject line and the
PDF attachment using Project (1 and/or 2), PI Last Name, First Name.
Funding Decisions
The proposals will be evaluated by members of the
Corn Dust Research Consortium Advisory panel, and
funding decisions will be made by Friday, March 14, 2014.
Laurie Davies Adams
Executive Director
Pollinator Partnership
423 Washington St. 5th Fl.
San Francisco, CA 94111
T: 415.362.1137
F: 415.362.0176
