Treated corn seed linked to bee kills, Health Canada urges farmers to use best practices

Government issues list of 25 best practices to lower the risk of contamination 
instead of following Europe’s lead and banning neonicotinoid insecticides

Another round of “bee incidents” last year has prompted Health Canada to issue an updated list of mitigation measures to corn farmers who may have inadvertently killed the pollinators. A severe death rate during planting season in 2012 has been linked to a dry spell and widespread use of nitro-guanidine neonicotinoid insecticides on corn seed.

Beekeepers ask courts to ban controversial pesticides

U.S. environmental regulators are failing to protect honeybees and should immediately suspend use of some toxic insecticides tied to the widespread deaths of bees, charges a new lawsuit. “It is a catastrophe in progress,” said migratory beekeeper Steve Ellis, who maintains 2,000 hives for pollinating crops from Minnesota to California. “We have an ongoing problem


PMRA reviews insecticide link to bee deaths

A class of insecticides that could be banned in the European Union because of their risk to honeybees is also under review in Canada. The neonicotinoid class includes imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam products which are the basis for several popular insecticides and seed treatments in Canada. Imidacloprid products include Bayer’s Admire and Gaucho, and thiamethoxam

Streamlined approval process leads to expanded labels for horticulture products

Aslimmed-down federal approval process will allow Canadian fruit and vegetable growers some expanded uses of an insecticide and two fungicides this spring. Bayer CropScience credited recent “regulatory synchronization” between Canada and the U.S. for the expanded labels on Admire insecticide and Reason and Flint fungicides announced Feb. 19. The approval covers uses for which the


CWB announces 2011-12 final payments

CWB is issuing final payments to farmers for the wheat, durum wheat and barley delivered during the 2011-12 crop year. Final and total payments for base grades basis Vancouver or St. Lawrence are 1 CWRS, 12.5 per cent $13.79/$290.49; 1 CWAD, 12.5 per cent $14.54/$345.24 and Select CW Two-Row barley $16.34/$312.94. A full list is

EU Commission wants curbs on pesticides to protect bees

Reuters / The European Commission said Jan. 31 it wanted EU member states to restrict the use of pesticides linked to the decline of bees. The commission said it was asking EU countries to suspend the use of neonicotinoid insecticides — among the most commonly used crop pesticides — on sunflower, rapeseed, maize and cotton.


Regulatory approval

Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, has received Canadian regulatory approval for cultivation, feed and food use of Optimum GLY brand canola, its proprietary glyphosate-tolerant canola. Pioneer expects to commercialize the product mid-decade, pending key regulatory approvals from export markets globally. Optimum GLY canola was developed, in part, through exclusive DNA shuffling technology to provide tolerance

New Insecticide For Soybeans

Bayer CropScience has received registration for Concept insecticide, making it available to soybean and horticulture growers across Canada for the 2011 growing season. “Concept is a revolutionary broad-spectrum foliar insecticide that delivers quick knockdown and residual protection against soybean aphid and Japanese beetle, and suppression of bean leaf beetle in soybean crops,” said Greg Good,


Expanded Label For Cruiser Maxx Cereals

Acombo of three active ingredients for wireworm and disease control in wheat and barley has been cleared both for use on oats and use on the farm. Syngenta Crop Protection Canada announced April 19 it has received approval from Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency to add oats to Cruiser Maxx Cereals’ label – and

Seed Treatments Seen Boosting Vigour In Cold Soils

Seed treatments help protect young crops from insects and diseases, but according to Syngenta, its Cruiser Maxx Cereals has an added benefit: increased plant vigour under cold soil conditions. Research shows early seeding usually results in higher yields. That and the fact more farmers are seeding earlier because they have more acres to cover means