(Leonid Eremeychuk/iStock/Getty Images)

‘Keep it Clean’ program aims for more than just good advice

Program seen as 'one stop shop' for ensuring marketability of grains

As farmers plan for the upcoming season, they need to do their part to make certain their grain will be ready for market, come harvest time. “Market access issues in general are becoming a bigger issue globally,” said Ian Epp, an agronomy specialist and lead on market access and pesticides with the Canola Council of

Keep it Clean wants farmers to hear the message that glyphosate and other crop protection products need to be applied only according to the label.

If farmers keep misusing glyphosate, they may lose it

The warnings from the ‘Keep it Clean’ campaign are taking on a more urgent tone

If Canadian farmers want to keep using glyphosate they must stop misusing glyphosate. That blunt message was delivered earlier this summer during a ‘Keep it Clean’ webinar to agronomists and retailers, who were urged to pass it on to their farmer-clients. “We all know the value of glyphosate, but to be very blunt about it,


A new pesticide safety review system aims at being more predictable while protecting public health and the environment.

Common sense needed in pesticide reviews: agri-food groups

The PMRA has been stacking review upon review in some cases, critics say

Agri-food groups support provisions in the 2019 budget to trigger pesticide safety reviews when one is merited and not just because another country orders one on a product. While Health Canada and the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency take a risk-based approach to pesticide approvals, other members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development employ

Common insecticides are having less of an impact on potato beetles in recent years.

Natural pest control still a challenge

Pest control in potatoes is caught between growing pressure to cut back on common chemical tools and concerns over chemical rotation, but do biopesticides factor into the path forward?

Potato biopesticides are still digging a niche in a sector beleaguered by chemical-resistance concerns, social pressure and the threat of regulatory crackdown on common chemistries. But their best fit might support, rather than replace, what growers are already doing in the field. The promise of biopesticides — drawn from naturally occurring substances that are unfriendly

One study determined that if half of all Americans increased their consumption of a fruit and vegetable by a single serving each day, 20,000 cancer cases could be prevented each year.

Comment: ‘Dirty dozen’ list of ‘dangerous’ produce questioned

Unnecessary concern about pesticides could backfire by reducing consumption of cancer-fighting produce

Since 1995, an activist group (Environmental Working Group) has released a so-called “dirty dozen” produce list. However, peer-reviewed studies show this list’s recommendations are not scientifically supportable while other studies show it may negatively impact consumers since it discourages purchasing of any produce — organic or conventional. “There are many ways to promote organic produce


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

Beneficial and nuisance insects were on display during a presentation by Manitoba Agriculture entomologist, John Gavloski, March 16.

CanoLAB workshop makes Dauphin debut

There was a broad cross-section of canola issues and topics at a recent CanoLAB workshop

The annual CanoLAB canola management workshop series continues to extend its Manitoba footprint with a first-time event in Dauphin March 15 and 16. Topics ranged from combine settings and herbicide management to crop damage and beneficial insects. It is the fifth year the event has been held in Manitoba, after initially being introduced in Alberta

Flying bee

Neonic replacement not popular with farmers or beekeepers

They’re too expensive, ineffective and still harmful to bees, to cite just some of the concerns expressed

A proposed replacement for a key neonicotinoid pesticide is proving unpopular with everyone — including farmers and beekeepers. Farmers adopted neonic pesticides because they were safer and didn’t damage the environment as older pesticides did. With one of the three used in Canada being phased out, the search for replacements is on. Mark Brock, chairman


CleanFARMS program gets significant uptake

The 2016 version of the industry stewardship program 
safely disposed of thousands of kilograms of farm inputs

The 2016 CleanFARMS effort to collect old pesticides and livestock medication has yielded banner results in the Keystone province. Manitoba farmers returned over 53,000 kilograms of obsolete and unwanted pesticides and 1,800 kilograms of various medications. CleanFARMS, which operates the program, is a national plant science and animal health industry-led agricultural waste stewardship organization. Collections

Rachel Parkinson (r) and Professor Jack Gray use a “video game” to study pesticide effects on insects.

Flight simulator shows pesticide effects

High-tech approach at the University of Saskatchewan uses virtual reality more common to video games


A research project at the University of Sask­atchewan is using a virtual reality flight simulator to measure how locusts are affected by pesticides. Rachel Parkinson, a biology master’s student, is trying to see how insects react to neonicotinoids. “There is a lot of controversy over these pesticides,” said biology professor, Jack Gray, Parkinson’s supervisor. “They