(Dave Bedard photo)

Cargill plans to close U.K. rapeseed crush plant

Fewer U.K. farmers growing crop

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

Cereals show the damage from munching wireworms, something BASF hopes its new seed insecticide will help avoid.

BASF’s ‘novel’ wireworm seed treatment makes pitch to PMRA

Teraxxa could be available in Western Canada next year if approved by Canadian regulatory authorities

BASF hopes Teraxxa F4, its new cereal seed insecticide for wireworm control, will be available in Western Canada next year. Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is reviewing Teraxxa and must approve it before it can be used commercially in Canada. The seed treatment is now in the public consultation period after getting handed


File photo of apple picking in a Quebec orchard. (Noah Burger/iStock/Getty Images)

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

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

Editorial: Right questions, wrong answers

Reaction from farmers was swift to last week’s announcement by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) that it plans to phase out most uses of neonicotinoids in Canada over the next three to five years. Shock, confusion and anger pretty much sum it up. Some said that if this relatively new class of products is


Flea beetle. (Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

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

A mayfly on water. (SBTheGreenMan/iStock/Getty Images)

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

Imidacloprid, a neonic insecticide, has been targeted by Health Canada as an environmental threat to aquatic insects and pollinators.

Health Canada still on track for phasing out imidacloprid

A final decision is expected by December after a summer consultation

Cereal, speciality crop and fruit and vegetable growers are gearing up for a final attempt to convince Health Canada that eliminating most agricultural uses of the neonic insecticide imidacloprid is an environmental step backward. The department said May 31 that an updated pollinator assessment by the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency found that while the risks



Predators, such as (A) an Orius nymph, (B) Asian lady beetle, (C) aphid midge larva, and (D) parasitic wasps typically suppress early-season infestations of soybean aphid.

U.S. study questions neonics for soybean aphid control

The effectiveness of the insecticide has diminished by the time the plants 
are at the stage when the insects arrive

A multi-university study says that neonicotinoid insecticide seed treatments have little effect on soybean aphid populations, as the pesticide has disappeared in plant tissue by the time the aphids arrive. The two-year study was a joint effort of Purdue University, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, North Dakota State University, the University of Minnesota, South