Capitol and downtown Madison, Image via Pixabay

WGF Attends Informational Session on Neonics at WI Capitol

by Paul Heinen, WGF Policy Director

About the Session and Neonics

Wisconsin’s Green Fire (WGF) attended an information session on September 8, 2025 at the Wisconsin Capitol on neonicotinoids, a class of chemicals commonly called “neonics.” The session was held by Representative Lee Snodgrass (D-Appleton) and University of Wisconsin experts. The information session covered the wide-reaching impacts of neonics on Wisconsin’s agricultural industry, waterways, pollinators, and people. Sara Walling from Clean Wisconsin hosted the event. The intended audience was mainly Legislative staff and Legislators.

Neonics are neuro-active insecticides. Chemically similar to nicotine, neonics work by disrupting the nervous system of insects. Neonics have become pervasive in modern agriculture since they were first widely adopted in the 1990s as a replacement for harmful organophosphate insecticides. Farmers use neonics to control a variety of agricultural pests, mainly through the used of neonic-coated crop seeds. In residential uses, neonics can be found in some gardening or pest-prevention products. Pet owners also may use neonic-containing products to prevent fleas and ticks on their animals.

The powerful effectiveness of neonics is part of the problem.

Neonics are also harmful to non-target species like honeybees, bumblebees, butterflies, and other pollinators. The chemicals can have wide-reaching impacts on birds and fish that eat these and other insects. Neonics can also cause human health issues when people are exposed to contaminated drinking water, residues in food, and other residential uses of products that contain neonics.

As Representative Snodgrass said at the opening of the session, “Policy doesn’t change until public opinion changes. The goal is to educate the public of the dangers of neonic usage.” She invited a number of UW professor to address their areas of expertise.

The topics and speakers included:

• Efficacy of Neonicotinoids in Agricultural Pest Control – Shawn Conley, UW Professor of Agronomy
• Neonicotinoid alternatives in Wisconsin specialty crops – Russ Groves, UW Professor of Entomology
• Uses Beyond Agriculture and Implications for Water Resources – Sara Walling, Water and Agriculture Program Director at Clean Wisconsin
• Impacts of Neonicotinoids on Ecosystem Services – AJ Jeninga, UW Extension Emerging Contaminants Specialist
• Neonics and Human Health Impacts – Kayla Rinderknecht, UW Population Health Fellow at Clean Wisconsin

What is WGF doing related to Neonics?

Several WGF Work Groups are following the science and effects of neonics usage and are discussing what steps are needed to control the effects of their applications. This is a classic example of an issue that crosses a number of subject areas in WGF from fisheries to water quality, wildlife, environmental rules and water resources and emerging contaminants. The groups are working together and sharing their areas of expertise.

If legislation is needed to change the laws concerning neonics, it will not likely happen until the 2027 Legislative Session. We will keep you updated as we work with Legislators, the Governor and partner groups to find solutions to the damage that neonics are causing in our environment.

Yellow-banded bumblebee (Bombus terricola), a Wisconsin species of special concern, Wood County, 2025, photo by Carolyn Pralle