In its effort to protect bees, the Environmental Protection Ag­­ency (EPA) should continue to use its traditional risk-benefit approach in evaluating crop protection compounds and not single out neonicotinoids as the cause of bee losses, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) said in comments to the agency.

Earlier this year, the EPA proposed further restricting the use of neonicotinoids, commonly called neonics, for bees used as contracted pollinators (a practice not common in Iowa) as a way to protect bees.

The agency’s proposal would alter the label on the...