The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has tallied up the in-season bee death numbers for both 2014 and 2015 (planting only), and the numbers are nothing short of staggering. The PMRA recently reported to the federal bee health roundtable that during the planting period there was roughly a 70% decrease in the number of reported… Read More
Category: Regulatory
The Grain Farmers of Ontario have sought legal advice on behalf of its members and have words of caution for farmers: do not allow beekeepers on your land without a waiver of liability. GFO has contacted members with guidance following concerns that surround possible liability issues with hosting beekeepers’ livestock on their land, the group… Read More
Ontario’s government today unveiled the final version of the regulations governing the use of neonicotinoid-treated soybean and corn seeds. If you can hardly tell the difference from the proposed regulation launched late in 2014, you can be forgiven — the final regulation is only slightly tweaked from the original proposal. Ontario’s Ministry of Environment of… Read More
I’ve often wondered what would happen if I moved my dairy farm to Toronto’s Yonge and Eglinton. I’d take some floor space out in a nearby building and then open the doors to let the cows come and go as the please. Free-range is all the rage, anyway. I wouldn’t feed them myself though, I’d… Read More
Two independent sources familiar with the workings of Ontario’s legislature have confirmed that the impending regulations regarding access to neonicotinoid-treated corn and soybean seed will go to cabinet on Wednesday, June 3rd. This final version of the regulations designed by Ontario’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) will take effect July 1. First announced… Read More
Farmers from across southern Ontario rallied at two MPP offices today, May 29, to demonstrate their frustration over the Ontario government’s handling of impending regulations regarding the use of neonicotinoid treated corn and soybean seed. Grain Farmers of Ontario put the call out earlier this week for farmers to show up between 10 am and… Read More
It’s not often that I can’t find the answers I need. After all, growing crops and sharing information about growing crops is the part of this job I love the most (hello, total agronomy geek up in here!). I’m always willing to dig deep to get the answers farmers need. So it’s difficult for me… Read More
New appointments to the province’s Ontario Pesticide Advisory Committee (OPAC) have got at least one farm group calling foul — yet again — on Ontario’s government. The committee’s purpose is to “annually reviews the content and operation of the Pesticides Act and its regulations and recommends changes or amendments” to the minister of environment and… Read More
The Grain Farmers of Ontario are speaking up about concerns they have regarding the reach of Ontario’s ministry of environment. It’s no secret that GFO disagrees with the province’s proposed regulations regarding the use of neonicotinoid corn and soybean seed treatments — regulations the producer group says equate to a de facto ban on the… Read More
Some call it a tax, others a subsidy, but those selling the carbon cap and trade model for Ontario call it a boon for the economy, agriculture included. Recently, Ontario’s premier, Kathleen Wynne, announced the province was committed to the establishment of a cap and trade system to “address climate change by limiting sources of… Read More