Flea beetles are showing signs of resistance to pyrethroids in Europe, where neonics have been banned for years.

Neonics still best flea beetle option

There’s mounting evidence the European ban has significant unintended consequences, entomologist says

Neonicotinoids used as a seed treatment remain the safest and most effective tool for managing flea beetles, an entomologist says. Neonicotinoids are a widely used class of insecticides available since the 1990s. Concerns about their environmental impact emerged in the early 2000s, when studies showed they caused harm to honeybees and other pollinators. These findings

France sees no easy fix for sugar beet disease without neonicotinoids

None of the alternatives to neonicotinoids for protecting sugar beet crops works well enough on its own, France’s health agency ANSES said June 2, as the country looks for ways to do without the chemical seen as harmful to bees. France suspended its ban on the use of neonicotinoids on sugar beet crops until 2023


Editor’s Take: Crop protection under fire

It’s shaping up to be a tough year on the crop-protection front. I don’t mean pests, diseases and weeds. For any producer, those are perennial challenges that will wax and wane with weather and pest pressure. I speak instead of the regulatory and legal fronts, where as you will read in our May 27 issue,

Canada to limit uses of two crop chemicals

Move comes on concerns about water insects, but canola growers don’t see significant changes

Reuters – Canada’s Health Ministry said March 31 it would limit the use of two types of crop chemicals that have been linked to deaths of aquatic insects that are food for fish and birds. Health Canada’s multi-year review of clothianidin, made by Bayer AG, and thiamethoxam, a Syngenta product, found that some applications pose

Currently available crop protection products can only knock back wireworms, not eliminate them.

Are wireworms’ days numbered?

Once you have wireworms, it’s hard to get rid of them, but that might be changing once BASF’s new seed treatment launches in 2021

Growers will soon be able to knock back wireworm populations rather than just holding the line. BASF says it is two years away from launching its new cereal seed treatment, Teraxxa, on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. The seed treatment will introduce a new chemistry to the market. Teraxxa will be a Group 30


Blooming rapeseed field at sunset

More debate yet to come on neonics

Health Canada has satisfied its concern with three neonicotinoid insecticides and pollinator risk, but a decision to protect aquatic insects may yet take those chemistries off the table

Health Canada’s April decisions on three neonicotinoid insecticides won’t change much for growers this year — but it also won’t be the last word on the subject. Producers will still have access to most imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam uses following the April 11 ruling. In 2016, the federal government announced plans to phase out imidacloprid

“PMRA’s re-evaluation decision confirms that in the vast majority of cases, neonics can be used effectively by farmers without unnecessary risk to pollinators.” – Pierre Petelle, CropLife Canada

No new major neonic restrictions: Health Canada

Existing restrictions remain, but they won’t be expanded for the foreseeable future

No new changes are coming to the use of neonicotinoids in Canada. There will be no new significant restrictions beyond those announced last year, Health Canada said April 10 in its final decision on its review of clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiameth­oxam. The department said it will proceed with cancelling some uses of the products and

(Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Neonic-treated canola not an ‘unacceptable risk’ for pollinators

Already facing federally mandated phase-outs from many major on-farm uses in Canada over risks to aquatic insects, neonicotinoids aren’t expected to pose “unacceptable risks” to pollinators when used on canola seed or hothouse vegetables in the meantime. Health Canada said as much Thursday as it released its final re-evaluation decisions for three neonic pesticides —


Manitoba Agriculture’s Pratisara Bajracharya says periodic reviews of pesticides are a part of the regulatory landscape in Canada.

How and why: What drove the proposed neonic ban?

There are a number of reasons a pesticide might come under review after registration

As growers still wait for the final decision on whether certain neonicotinoid seed treatments will be banned in Canada, many are still scratching their heads about how the proposed ban came about. As it happens, the re-evaluation of pesticides is a legal requirement and it was during a periodic routine re-evaluation that the Pest Management

Without a viable alternative to clothianidin and thiamethoxam, the Canola Council of Canada feels “the ban will significantly impact the canola sector.”

Agri-food sector gearing up for neonic consultations

Government says it will listen to concerns about lack of useful alternatives to neonics

Farm groups are readying for battle over the federal government’s proposal to phase out more neonicotinoid pesticides. They’ve signalled their intention to grill Health Canada and the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) over their plans to eliminate the use of clothianidin and thiamethoxam over the next three to five years because they pose a threat