London | Reuters — Cargill plans to close its rapeseed crush facility in Hull, eastern England, the global commodities trader said Tuesday. The mill, which Cargill has been operating since 1985, has the capacity to crush 750 tonnes of seed a day to produce 420 tonnes of rapeseed meal and 323 tonnes of crude rapeseed […] Read more
Cargill plans to close U.K. rapeseed crush plant
Fewer U.K. farmers growing crop
EU to ban Bayer’s Calypso insecticide
Brussels | Reuters — European Union governments on Tuesday widened the EU ban on neonicotinoid pesticides after deciding not to renew their approval for Bayer’s thiacloprid. Farmers will not be allowed to use the neonic insecticide, sold under the brands Calypso and Biscaya, after April 30, 2020, when its current approval expires. A majority of […] Read more
Neonic phase-out may limit flea beetle control tools
CNS Canada — The phasing out of neonicotinoid seed treatments in Canada may cause problems for the country’s canola growers when dealing with flea beetles — but alternatives pesticides could fill the gap. Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is proposing that two neonicotinoid pesticides, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, be phased out over the next […] Read more
Phase-outs planned for clothianidin, thiamethoxam
The remaining two of the big three neonicotinoid insecticides will be phased out of nearly all on-farm use in Canada in the next few years under a proposal from Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency. PMRA officials on Wednesday announced 90-day consultation periods on its decisions for both clothianidin and thiamethoxam, following “special reviews” which […] Read more
Global study finds trace neonics in much of world’s honey
A study by Swiss scientists has found trace levels of at least one neonicotinoid pesticide in three-quarters of the honey samples it collected from around the world. The study, spearheaded by a team from Switzerland’s Universite de Neuchatel and published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science, was meant to assess “global exposure of pollinators […] Read more
Greig: A year of farm policy decisions ahead for Ontario
Ontario’s agriculture minister stands by his decision to halt a process that was expected to open up how processing tomatoes are priced in the province. Jeff Leal’s decision, announced in August, resulted in a Dec. 21 threat from Ontario’s largest tomato processors to significantly cut back their tomato purchases from Ontario farmers in 2017. Processing […] Read more
Greig: Ontario environment minister reaches out to farmers
The Ontario Liberal government appears to be attempting to mend the gap created between the government and rural Ontario. Premier Kathleen Wynne apologized on Nov. 19 to Ontarians for the significant rise in electricity costs, now about the highest in North America. According to media reports she said it was her mistake and her government […] Read more
PMRA seeks phase-out for neonic pesticide imidacloprid
Canadian farm use of the pesticide imidacloprid, from the controversial neonicotinoid family, is facing a three- to five-year phase-out from approval over its potential risks to aquatic insects. Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) on Wednesday announced it had completed a re-evaluation of the pesticide and has kicked off a 90-day public consultation period, […] Read more
Long-term U.K. study links neonics to wild bee declines
London | Reuters — Wild bees that forage from oilseed rape crops treated with insecticides known as neonicotinoids are more likely to undergo long-term population declines than bees that forage from other sources, according to the findings of an 18-year study. The new research covered 62 species of bee found in the wild in Britain […] Read more
France’s Senate suspends palm oil tax, delays neonic ban
Paris | Reuters — The French Senate on Thursday adopted a revised version of its biodiversity bill in which senators scrapped an additional tax on palm oil and delayed until 2020 a ban on pesticides blamed for harming bees. The decisions are not final as the two houses of the French parliament now have to […] Read more
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