As part of its ongoing assessment of neonicotinoid pesticides (or neonics), Health Canada has proposed renewed three-year registrations for two of the three neonics under review, with some added restrictions. The review, which began in 2012, was initiated to assess the potential risk to pollinators from the nicotine-based products used to control insect pests. Farmers… Read More

Stating a “weight of evidence” that neonicotinoid imidacloprid poses too high a risk to aquatic insects, Health Canada announced today a proposed three-year phase out of the insecticide. In Canada, imidacloprid is used in some cereal and potato seed treatments, as well as within the horticulture industry. Health Canada says it drew on data submitted… Read More

Harvest is rocking and rolling for most corn and soybean growers in Ontario save for @WheatPete himself who took an equipment breakdown as a chance to get the Word done early this week. This week’s Wheat Pete’s Word covers a lot of ground, including the why behind high test weight corn, the nitrogen connection to high… Read More

Ontario MPP for Huron-Bruce, Lisa Thompson, has launched an initiative aimed at addressing concerns that the next phase of Ontario’s neonicotinoid regulations will unfairly limit farmers’ choices and the professional reach of agriculture professionals. Last week, Thompson introduced to the provincial legislature Bill 4, the Supporting Agricultural Experts in Their Field Act, 2016, in counter to changes… Read More

If agriculture wants to reduce the potential impact neonicotinoid seed treatments have on pollinators, it has to modify standard vacuum planters. That’s the verdict from Ridgetown College, University of Guelph researcher Dr. Art Schaafsma. “Essentially, what we’ve created is a drift problem,” says Schaafsma, who spoke publicly about his research for the first time last… Read More

61% of Canadians have a “very or somewhat” positive impression of Canadian agriculture according to a new national survey released by Farm and Food Care (FFC) and the newly minted Canadian Centre For Food Integrity. That’s the highest ranking Canadians have given farming since FFC started asking Canadians for their impression of the industry 10… Read More

A RealAgriculture reader poll suggests farmers and the agricultural industry want Grain Farmers of Ontario to continue the fight against the province’s new seed treatment regulations that restrict neonicotinoid use. Last week we asked readers: Should GFO Keep Fighting for Neonic Use? More than 75% of voters who cast ballots in the online poll indicated… Read More

After losing an Ontario Court of Appeal decision on the province’s new seed treatment regulations, what strategy should Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) now pursue on the neonic issue? We put the question to GFO chair Mark Brock. We’re also interested in your opinion. It appears the farm organization has three strategic options. Let us… Read More

When farmers search for ways to better manage cover crops, seed treatments such as neonicotinoids don’t readily come to mind. But that could change if research results from University of Guelph weed scientist Dr. Clarence Swanton are proven in field tests. In this episode of Corn School, Real Agriculture resident agronomist Peter Johnson sits down with… Read More

What a difference a year makes. Back in spring 2015, Ontario farmers were scrambling to manage an abundance of corn stalk residue and grappling with questions about tillage and how to fix fields full of ruts caused by a challenging harvest. Fast forward to spring 2016 and farmers are facing a much more favourable planting… Read More

Regulatory restrictions are not on the radar in Manitoba, but the province’s agriculture entomologist suggests farmers in Western Canada should ask themselves “why?” before using neonicotinoid seed treatments. The Ontario and Quebec governments are restricting the use of insecticide-treated seed in response to concerns about neonics hurting bee health, but there haven’t been the same problems with pollinator populations… Read More

After implementing restrictions on the use of corn and soybean seed treatments last summer, the Ontario government is now seeking public feedback on a “Pollinator Health Action Plan.” The plan is seen as the third component in the province’s pollinator health strategy, with the other two pillars being restrictions on neonicotinoid seed treatments and the… Read More

 

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