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
Pearce: GFO goes informative rather than inflammatory
U.S. EPA proposing temporary pesticide-free zones for honeybees
Reuters — U.S. environmental regulators on Thursday proposed a rule that would create temporary pesticide-free zones to protect commercial honeybees, which are critical to food production and have been dying off at alarming rates. The restrictions are aimed at protecting bees from “pesticides that are acutely toxic” to them, and would cover foliar applications when […] 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
Neonic rules ‘unworkable’ for Ont. corn, soy growers
Ontario’s planned regulation to limit the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments might as well be a ban from where the organization sits representing the province’s corn and soy producers. After reviewing the draft regulation, which provincial officials posted March 23 for public comment until May 7, Grain Farmers of Ontario said Thursday it “strongly opposes […] Read more
Lowe’s to phase out sales of neonics by 2019
Chicago | Reuters — Home improvement chain Lowe’s will stop selling a type of pesticide suspected of causing a decline in honeybee populations needed to pollinate key American crops, following a few U.S. retailers who took similar steps last year. The pesticides known as neonicotinoids (neonics) are sold by agrichemical companies to boost yields of […] Read more
Pesticides could lead to ‘pollination deficit,’ EU report says
Brussels | Reuters –– Evidence is mounting that widely-used pesticides harm moths, butterflies and birds as well as bees, adding to concerns crop production could be hit by a shortage of pollinators, according to a report drawn up for EU policymakers. The European Commission, the EU executive, placed restrictions on three neonicotinoid pesticides from Dec. […] Read more
Ontario’s neonic limits tabled for public comment
Proposed new controls on the use and sale of corn and soybean seed treated with neonicotinoid pesticides in Ontario are up for public comment between now and early May. The provincial government made its move Monday — three days ahead of a scheduled meeting between Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal and Grain Farmers of Ontario chairman […] Read more
Ont. ag minister to review GFO proposal on bee health, neonics
Ontario corn and soybean growers have secured a meeting with the provincial ag minister on the farmers’ proposed Plan B to balance crop pest control against bee health. Grain Farmers of Ontario said Thursday its representatives will meet March 26 with Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal to discuss the proposals laid out in GFO’s Ontario Pollinator […] Read more
More heat than light in neonicotinoid controversy
Reading Time: < 1 minute Neonics have become one of those issues that creates deep divides. Are neonicotinoid pesticides silently poisoning our world, with bees serving as the canaries in a toxic coal mine? Or is the whole thing just the latest cause célèbre promoted by radical environmentalists who have a hate on for “industrial” farming? The already rancorous debate […] Read more
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