Hi all
It's typical to hear of 30% losses in the bee industry and how "unsustainable" this level of loss is. Interesting to note, then, that many other agricultural pursuits suffer similar levels of loss:

> Global crop losses because of invertebrate pests vary from year to year, but are typically in the order of 25 - 35% for wheat, cotton, maize, and rice. Prophylactic [preventive] use of chemical sprays has formed the main method to control invertebrate pests attacking grain crops as well as pastures. 

> Crop establishment pests (those that feed on plants during the germination and seedling stages of development) are particularly damaging because seedlings are at a susceptible stage and will often fail to compensate after attack early in plant development 

> In this study, the impact of broad-spectrum pesticides and several selective pesticides on nontarget invertebrate fauna was assessed in five field trials in wheat and canola fields. Despite extensive sampling over short and medium timeframes, few treatment effects on nontarget groups were detected.

Synthetic Pesticides in Agro-Ecosystems: Are They as Detrimental to Nontarget Invertebrate Fauna as We Suspect?
J. Econ. Entomol. 106(2): 756 - 775 (2013)

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