The association for Ontario corn and soybean growers is “evaluating several options” after its request for a stay of the province’s new limits on neonicotinoid seed treatments was rejected. The Ontario Superior Court denied the request from Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) for a stay and interpretation on the neonic regulations, which became law in […] Read more

Court rejects Ont. growers’ bid for stay on neonic regs

Ont. farmers file for stay of province’s neonic regs
Ontario’s corn and soybean grower group is taking the province’s planned regulations on the use and sale of pesticide-treated seed to court. Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) said Monday it filed a request late last week with the provincial Superior Court of Justice in Toronto, seeking a legal “interpretation” of the province’s rules on neonicotinoid-treated […] Read more

Ont. books drop in bee death ‘incidents’ at planting
Early data from federal pesticide regulators appear to suggest Ontario’s bee yards are moving past a spell of unusually high death losses seen around the 2012 and 2013 planting seasons. Combining the numbers of acute honey bee mortality “incidents” by bee yard in Ontario in the 2015 pre-planting and planting periods, up to June 11, Health Canada’s […] Read more

Pearce: GFO goes informative rather than inflammatory
It’s not that farmers in Ontario aren’t frustrated and angry concerning legislation aimed at curbing the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments. They are. However, during a protest Friday in front of Ontario Deputy Premier Deb Matthews’ riding office in London, executives with the Grain Farmers of Ontario and roughly 35 farmers took a more proactive […] Read more

Ontario won’t widen comment window on neonics: GFO
The public comment period on Ontario’s planned regulations for neonicotinoid seed treatments will close Thursday as scheduled, despite requests from the province’s grain grower group for an extension. The province has “refused” to extend the public comment period on the use of the insecticide group in seed treatments, Grain Farmers of Ontario said in a […] Read more

GFO seeks longer comment period on neonic regs
Grain Farmers of Ontario wants the province’s environment ministry to reconsider the rush on the comment period for its proposed new controls on neonicotinoid seed treatments. The province has given the public, farmers included, a 45-day period ending May 7 to comment on its proposed regulations. “This is one of the busiest times of the […] Read more

Ontario proposes deep cuts to farmers’ neonic use by 2017
Ontario’s new goal to ban most use of neonicotinoid pesticides in corn and soybean crops by 2017 has yielded bouquets from the province’s beekeepers — but left crop growers feeling stung. Following up on Premier Kathleen Wynne’s orders to her agriculture and environment ministers in their mandate letters in September, the province on Tuesday announced it will consult on […] Read more

Ont. barley, oat growers set to vote on GFO membership
Ontario’s Farm Products Marketing Commission will run a vote for the province’s oats and barley growers starting Friday, to decide whether Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) will be the growers’ voice going forward. The commission will conduct a mail-in vote from Friday (Oct. 31) to Nov. 17 to see whether oat and barley growers wish […] Read more