Beginning in the early 2000s, neonicotinoids were increasingly used as seed treatments for field crops. More than 80 percent of corn and 40 percent of soybean acres nationally are planted with neonicotinoid-treated seed. Published research has shown that while neonicotinoids can be effective in controlling sporadic and inconsistent early-season threats such as wireworms or white grubs, they lose effectiveness well before midsummer, which is usually when the most potentially destructive soybean pest, the soybean aphid, begins to colonize soybean fields across the Midwest. Other publications have also shown that neonicotinoids spread readily through the environment and could pose a threat to beneficial species.

The publication was a joint effort of Purdue, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, North Dakota State University, Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Missouri, Ohio State University, Penn State University, South Dakota State University, Texas A&M University and the University of Wisconsin.

The PDF is available from Purdue University.