Ecosystems are strange and wonderful places, and the ecosystem within canola fields is no exception.It can be easy to overlook the incredible abundance of interactions between different arthropods, including insects and spiders, happening within the canola canopy. Plus, when a farmer or agronomist sees damaged plants, it can be challenging to figure out if the… Read More
Category: Pollinators
Diamondback moths blow in at some point early in the season (thanks, America!), and set about living on the Prairies and in the canola crop for the rest of the growing season.Jordan Bannerman, entomologist with the University of Manitoba, says that understanding when the moths arrive, through the use of pheromone traps, and how long to… Read More
What a wild week in weather for much of the Northern Plains! The blizzard of decades is settling in on Manitoba, socking in many and closing the roads. Meanwhile in Ontario, the warm sunshine is setting up some winter wheat for nitrogen application, which brings us to some great questions for Wheat Pete’s Word. Host… Read More
The European Commission ‘severely restricted‘ three neonicotinoids — clothiandidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam — in an effort to protect honeybees, but critics say the regulations are doing for the very opposite. “In 2013 the European parliament voted to ban the use of neonics on flowering plant species, because of concerns about bee health,” said Simon Kightley,… Read More
Contrary to what some headlines and marketing campaigns would lead us to believe, honey bee numbers in Canada are at record highs and trending higher. At the end of 2016, there were a record 750 thousand colonies in the country, according to Statistics Canada. “The state of the bee industry is quite strong right now,”… 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
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
A recent spurt of colder weather in Ontario is bad news for pests and good news for farmers, says OMAFRA Field Entomologist Tracey Baute. “It makes entomologists a little nervous, especially when we don’t see winter arriving until mid January,” says Baute who’s concerned that the warm fall and late-arriving winter of 2016 will mean… Read More