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

Grain Farmers of Ontario is heading back to court to fight another round in its court battle to contest the province’s new seed treatment regulations. GFO will be in court on March 9th. “We are pleased that the Ontario Court of Appeal has agreed to hear our case and to move quickly on the issue,” GFO… Read More

It’s been a good news week for Grain Farmers of Ontario chair Mark Brock. But he’s unsure how positive reports on the impacts neonicotinoid seed treatments have on pollinators will affect provincial grain farmers. Earlier this week, reports from Health Canada and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) delivered a one-two punch supporting the embattled… Read More

The Great Lakes Agricultural Stewardship Initiative (GLASI) has new application rules, deadlines and funding levels to better help farmers take advantage of the program. GLASI is targeted to farmers in the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair watersheds, and Lake Huron’s southeast shores watershed, to help implement Better Management Practices (BMPs) that reduce phosphorus loading to… Read More

What crop and seed mixes could farmers plant to make their farms more bee-friendly? That’s a question Bayer CropScience and Pollinator Partnership are trying to answer with a study aiming to give farmers recommendations on what they can do to improve bee habitat on their farms. Vicki Wojcik, research director for Pollinator Partnership, a non-profit… Read More