SEED Act Dies: Colorado Farmers Dodge a Permission Slip

In CPR News, reporters Rae Solomon and Bente Birkeland report that a marquee item from Colorado Democrats’ environmental agenda just face-planted at the Capitol. The SEED Act, Senate Bill 65, which would have restricted pesticide-treated seeds widely used in commodity agriculture, died in committee after two Democratic senators joined Republicans to vote it down.

The fight is over neonicotinoids, commonly called neonics, a class of insecticides often applied as seed coatings. Supporters argue the chemicals are overused and harm ecosystems and pollinators. Opponents, especially farmers, say treated seed is a critical tool for crop protection, and that the bill’s approach was too big, too fast, and too messy to implement.

The Bullet Point Brief

• The SEED Act was not a “little tweak,” and even the Democratic committee chair, Sen. Dylan Roberts, said so while explaining his no vote. He said the conversations and engagement needed for a step this big simply did not happen.
• The bill would have restricted access to neonic-treated seeds, which farmers say they rely on to protect crops from pests like wireworm, and which are used across millions of acres in commodity agriculture.
• Supporters brought the full coalition: beekeepers, organic growers, environmental advocates, and even officials from the Polis administration. An NRDC lawyer called neonics among the most devastating insecticides since DDT, and the Department of Agriculture’s Jordan Beezley argued they are not necessary all the time.
• Opponents warned the policy was unworkable. The bill’s intent was to require a third-party expert sign-off before farmers could buy treated seed, basically a prescription model. Farmers testified the seeds are vital, with one corn farmer describing catastrophic failures when trying untreated seed.
• Colorado already regulated neonics in most commercial and urban settings starting in 2024, but this would have been the first serious attempt to restrict them in agricultural settings. Even the other Democratic no vote, Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, was not rejecting regulation forever. He was saying the problem and solution were not well-defined enough to legislate in one big swing.

My Bottom Line

Very little good news comes out of a Democrat-controlled legislature when the Gold Dome is buzzing during session. Most of the time, the best we can hope for is that a bad bill dies quietly in committee before it grows teeth.

In this case, a bad bill died. That is good news for those of us who support Colorado agriculture. Farmers operate on thin margins. They do not need lawmakers turning seed purchases into a permission slip system dreamed up by people who think food comes from a shelf and that every problem can be solved by a new checkbox.

Now, do not get too comfy. The in-charge Democrats have shown, again and again, they are not afraid to resurrect bad ideas and drag them back next session with a fresh coat of moral paint. “We fixed it,” they will say. “We listened,” they will say. And then it is right back to the same basic plan, just packaged in softer language.

We have not seen the last of this one, because, you know, “the bees.”

Source: Colorado Public Radio