SB 65 Turns Seed Into a Permission Slip

Nothing says “we respect agriculture” like two big-city lawmakers micromanaging what happens in a field they will never have to farm. Colorado Politics laid out how Senate Bill 65 is targeting neonicotinoid seed treatments across a long list of crops, with farmers warning it piles on risk and paperwork.

This fight is playing out at the Capitol, but the consequences land out here, where timing, pests, and margins are real and Mother Nature does not care about anyone’s talking points.

The Bullet Point Brief

• Senate Bill 65 would restrict the use of neonicotinoid (neonic) pesticides, focusing heavily on neonic-treated seed coatings used for many field crops.
• Supporters argue neonics threaten pollinators and point to a July 2025 Natural Resources Defense Council report about neonic contamination in Colorado water.
• Farmers say treated seed protects crops from soil pests like wireworms during germination and that alternatives are limited.
• The bill would require a Department of Agriculture approved third-party verifier to assess pest risk and issue a one-year certificate before a farmer can buy treated seed.
• SB 65 is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Feb. 26, and the bill references a Jan. 1, 2029 implementation date.

My Bottom Line

There is just nothing like a couple of big-city legislators who have never been on the business end of a tractor telling farmers how to raise crops. If you want to understand why people roll their eyes at the Capitol, start right there.

This bill disgusts me, and not because pollinators do not matter. It’s because the “solution” is classic Colorado virtue signaling at the expense of agriculture and the family farmer, with a shiny new permission slip scheme baked in. A committee wrote this. You can tell.

This is government replacing farmer judgment with a paid verifier, annual certificates, and whatever rulemaking comes out of the Department of Agriculture. More bureaucrats. Guess who pays for those?

Here’s the part they skip: farmers have to order seed months ahead, pests do not RSVP, and the bill sets up a timing bottleneck with zero price tag attached. Who pays? The farmer up front, and then every family at the grocery store later. The only thing “near universal” around here should be common sense.

If it worked, they wouldn’t need a mandate.

And yes, when farmers start to disappear and food prices continue to skyrocket, you can thank the likes of these two senators. If they want buy-in, start with a plan that respects reality: clear timelines, real verifier capacity, transparent costs, and flexibility for the ground truth in each field, not downtown ideology dressed up as policy.

Source: Colorado Politics