The company will remove Vercorace, debuted by BASF for the 2022 season as a broad-spectrum fungicide and flea beetle control, and release a seed treatment package centred on Syngenta’s Helix Vibrance for next year.

Flea beetle and cutworm control product Lumiderm will still be available as an optional seed treatment, Collins said, and the company also plans to debut Buteo start, launched in 2020 by Bayer for additional flea beetle control.

Changes will be made this fall, according to Collins.

Why it matters: BASF received approval for Vercorace in 2021 and integrated it into its InVigor canola line for the first time this year.

The announcement follows a string of farmer complaints this spring about establishment issues in their InVigor stands.

“There’s so many parameters that we still can’t completely pinpoint what the root causes are, because we believe there’s a number of elements,” Collins said. “We believe the best probability of having a successful InVigor experience in 2023 will be to migrate to Helix Vibrance, which is a canola seed treatment that’s been utilized in the Canadian marketplace for a number of years.”

In June, BASF released a statement acknowledging the reported InVigor issues. The same statement announced that the company had formed a team to find the source of the problem. That investigation continues.

The company has not yet shared insights on the root cause or trends in severity based on location or weather history, saying only that “certain geographies” and “certain hybrids” were impacted, according to Collins.

“When you think of all the different environmental conditions, whether it’s moisture or any of the other parameters… we’re just not in a position to pinpoint the key elements. We just need to have a greater degree of confidence.”

Collins noted general insect and weather pressures this spring in Western Canada. Crops in general were slow in April and May this year, following a cold spring and unforeseen precipitation. In Manitoba, snowstorms in mid-April buried much of the province and later led to widespread flooding. Producers later reported serious flea beetle pressures, seemingly a perennial problem in many areas, with many growers forced to apply multiple passes of control. Other areas of Western Canada were gripped by drought.

InVigor is one of the most popular choices for canola in Western Canada and BASF said only a small proportion reported issues, although no number was shared.

“Even one of these acres is too many from BASF’s perspective,” Collins said.

In 2020, the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC) reported more than 45 per cent of canola acres in the province were planted to InVigor hybrid L233P. InVigor had the top five canola varieties grown in Manitoba that year.

InVigor varieties do come with a product performance policy, Collins said, and every producer who lodged a complaint earlier this year has been approached by BASF. He said the company continues to work with those growers.

He added that most affected acres have since filled out.

“We’re treating this very seriously, even though it’s on a very minor number of acres,” Collins said. “For growers who experienced it, we want to make sure that we’re standing behind our product to make sure they have a very good continued experience with InVigor.”

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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 of Grain Farmers of Ontario, told the Commons agriculture committee that replacement for imidacloprid is far more expensive and less effective.

“There are no alternatives in the marketplace or in the technology pipeline that provide the same level of protection and safety,” he said.

“Last year, there was an introduction of a similar product into the marketplace, but it’s not available for soybeans, nor does it cover the same array of insects that the three neonics do.”

Brock also said it’s being sold at four times the cost of the neonic seed treatment, even though it provides less protection.

“We have seen some Ontario farmers transition to this product, but we do not have enough years of experience to know what its weaknesses are and what it will be effective against,” Brock said.

Jim Coneybeare, president of the Ontario Beekeepers Association, told the MPs seed dealers report that DuPont’s Lumivia seed treatment will likely replace as much as 75 per cent of neonics on corn in Ontario this planting season. While the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency approved, he said its active ingredient “negatively affects the behaviour of bees.”

He went on to say increased use of integrated pest management would allow only the targeted use of pesticides.

“The current practice of the overuse of pesticides is destructive to our environment and benefits only the ag chem industry,” he said.

OBA wants the immediate phase-out of all neonics “and the careful screening of new systemic pesticides.”

Last month, Health Canada reported that since the introduction of new planting practices for corn and soybeans in 2014, the number of bee death incidents have remained well below the high levels of 2012 and 2013. The number of bee death incidents related to sprayed pesticides also dropped during 2016.

However, beekeepers report incidents of strange behaviour in bee colonies in the aftermath of corn and soybean planting, the report notes.

“It remains unclear if these later-season effects are a result of exposure to low levels of neonicotinoids in the hives or other factors that affect bee health such as pests and pathogens; habitat loss and food supply or hive management. Health Canada is examining the information collected in an attempt to answer these questions,” the report read.

The fate of the two other neonics will be decided after Canada, the U.S. EPA and the state of California complete studies on the impact of the seed treatments.

Brock said that seed treatments are an important tool for both environmental and sustainable practices. “Many grain and oilseed producers have adopted no-till systems that reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the farm,” he said. “Many of us also plant cover crops that improve soil health and reduce the run-off of phosphorus into the Great Lakes and other tributaries.

“These types of farm practices would not be possible without tools like neonic seed treatments. Cover crops and no till results in increased insect populations that flourish in the undisturbed soil. The seed treatment allows farmers to protect each individual plant from these insects that grow in that environment. If not for seed treatments, many farmers would be less likely to plant cover crops or practise no till because their crops could not withstand the insect damage.”

He noted a study by the Conference Board of Canada showed the cost of forgoing neonic seed treatments would be $600 million annually to corn and soybean farmers in Ontario alone.

“It is important that our farmer-members have a tool box of technology to choose from, not only to deal with pest and disease pressures that we face, but to also remain competitive with international markets who have access to these products.” Neonics are still allowed in the U.S.

He praised Agriculture Canada’s neonic forum, which has enabled farmer groups to discuss the pesticide with federal officials and researchers.

“We are hopeful that it will result in a national protocol for environmental monitoring and risk mitigation opportunities that can be adopted by farmers,” he said.

The post Neonic replacement not popular with farmers or beekeepers appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Among the front page news items that week was the death of Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin at age 73, introduction of a new program for rabies control, and concern that the Manitoba government had not approved a marketing plan for honey producers. However, the biggest news that month was the lifting of the U.S.’s one-year ban on import of Canadian livestock following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Saskatchewan in February 1952.

Cattle were moving in the other direction — we reported that a shipment of 1,000 head to the Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Winnipeg markets would make shippers a half-cent-per-pound profit or $3,500 on the approximately 700,000 pounds. Both Canada and the U.S. were said to be holding large cattle supplies — one million and 20 million head respectively more than the year before. The same article said Britain was paying Argentina 19 cents per pound for dressed sides of beef, which compared to U.S. and Canadian prices of 40 to 46 cents.

At the annual meeting of the Manitoba branch of the Canadian Seed Growers, farmers heard that 150 bushels of CT186 wheat were being successfully grown out over the winter in the southern U.S. It was said to be the only variety in North America resistant to the devastating rust race 15B.

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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, from now until Feb. 21, on its proposed phase-out for the product.

For agricultural use, imidacloprid is marketed in Canada in seed treatments — such as Bayer’s Admire, Gaucho and Stress Shield and Adama’s Alias and Sombrero — and in other crop and greenhouse insecticides such as Bayer’s Concept, Intercept, Genesis and Merit and Cheminova’s Grapple. Off-farm, it’s also approved for use in various flea and lice treatments for dogs and cats.

PMRA’s assessment proposes the current use of imidacloprid “is not sustainable.” The product is being found in waterways and aquatic environments at levels harmful to aquatic insects such as mayflies and midges, which in turn are “important food sources for fish, birds and other animals,” the agency said.

Health Canada “is taking the findings of the re-evaluation of this pesticide seriously, and is taking action to further protect the environment,” Health Minister Jane Philpott said Wednesday in a release.

PMRA’s proposal calls for “any required changes to the use-pattern” for imidacloprid to take place within three years.

However, for uses where no “suitable alternative products” are yet available, a phase-out period of up to five years from the date of the PMRA’s final decision “may be considered.”

The phase-out would apply to all outdoor agricultural, ornamental, turf and tree uses (except tree injection uses) and greenhouse uses of imidacloprid.

Farmers and “other stakeholders” are to be consulted “to consider the availability of suitable alternatives,” the agency said.

The agency’s risk assessment found exposure to imidacloprid from spray drift and from runoff “may result in toxic effects to aquatic insects,” based on environmental modelling and Canadian water monitoring information. The product isn’t expected to pose a direct risk to fish, amphibians, algae or aquatic plants.

Environmental monitoring from “areas of intense agricultural activity” in Ontario and Quebec supported those findings, the agency said. Imidacloprid had been detected “frequently” in surface water at levels “well above concentrations that may result in toxic effects to insects.”

The regions in question included areas of both outdoor farm use, such as in potato and vegetable crops, and greenhouse use. The risks to freshwater insects couldn’t be attributed to a specific crop or application method, PMRA said.

The current continued use of the product isn’t sustainable, the agency said, because despite the precautionary label statements on all product labels to reduce the potential for runoff risk, and despite label restrictions against the release of imidacloprid from greenhouses into surface waters, the higher levels are still found in surface waters near areas where the product is in agricultural use.

“Robust” monitoring data isn’t available for all regions in Canada, the agency said, but “given the chemical properties of imidacloprid, it is anticipated that elevated levels may be found in many agricultural areas where there is a high volume of use.”

Thus, PMRA said, it can’t exclude any particular crop from its proposed risk management plan, “based on the available information.”

Also, the agency said, the available monitoring data “likely provide an underestimate of actual exposure, as sampling typically does not capture peak concentrations.”

Imidacloprid levels in surface water have been found to range from “non-detectable” up to as high as 11.9 parts per billion “in some rare cases,” Health Canada said. Evidence indicates levels above 0.041 parts per billion “are a concern.”

Other options that would see imidacloprid’s use curbed, but not eliminated, for the same risk-management result “would be difficult to achieve,” the agency said.

It would be tough to identify specific uses that caused elevated levels in water, PMRA said, because much of the water monitoring data came from “mixed-use” farming areas.

Also, the agency said, it’s “not possible to accurately predict how much use reduction would be necessary to achieve acceptable levels of imidacloprid in the environment and, therefore, any use-reduction strategy would require extensive and comprehensive water monitoring information to confirm that risk reduction targets are being achieved. It is also not possible to estimate how long a reduction in environmental levels would take.”

Also, in sectors where imidacloprid is “approved for use but not currently used extensively,” later intensified use “may lead to additional risks of concern.”

The agency acknowledged that for a few crops imidacloprid is the only approved insecticide for specific pests, and it has value as a seed treatment due to the “limited number” of registered seed treatments to manage the same pest and site combinations.

However, the agency noted, new insecticides have been submitted for approval and could serve as replacements in some cases, and label uses could possibly be expanded in other currently registered products.

That said, some of the alternatives “may have cost implications, be less effective against specific pests, or be under re-evaluation themselves,” PMRA said.

During the public comment period, and a planned “multi-stakeholder forum” expected to be held next month, PMRA said it would welcome any proposals for “potential alternative mitigation strategies that would achieve the same outcomes in a similar timeframe.”

However, the agency warned, any proposals that would allow imidacloprid’s continued registration would have to “clearly demonstrate concrete actions that would ensure that levels of imidacloprid in water would be reduced below the level of concern.”

The findings on imidacloprid have now also led the agency to launch “special reviews” for two other widely used neonicotinoids, clothianidin and thiamethoxam — looking specifically at the risks to aquatic invertebrates.

Both of the other neonics “are also being detected frequently in aquatic environments,” Health Canada said Wednesday.

The proposed phase-out for imidacloprid doesn’t relate to Health Canada’s still-ongoing evaluation of the neonic class of pesticides relating to the risk to bees and other pollinators.

Health Canada noted its re-evaluation efforts on the potential risks to pollinators have so far reduced the environmental risks of neonicotinoids.

For example, the department said, since it introduced mandatory “mitigation measures” on treated corn and soybean seed in 2014, the number of incidents reported at planting time has “decreased by up to 80 per cent.”

Ontario last year became the first jurisdiction in North America to limit use of seed treated with neonics. Quebec in 2015 announced plans for similar curbs. — AGCanada.com Network

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“Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has not banned the import of streptomycin-treated bean seeds,” the federal department said in an emailed statement. “It should be noted, however, that streptomycin sulphate is not currently registered in Canada for use as a coating on bean seeds and importation of streptomycin-treated dry bean seeds from the U.S. for planting in Canada has only been permitted on a limited basis.”

The antibiotic seed coating has not been registered in Canada since 1988 and the PMRA originally told producers that 1998 would be the last year they could import treated seeds from the United States. But after industry lobbying efforts, that deadline was deferred — again and again — while researchers strove to find alternative treatments and develop bean varieties resistant to common blight and halo blight.

Health Canada has stated that growers may import and use streptomycin-treated bean seeds for their 2017 crop, however, any requests to import or use streptomycin-treated bean seeds for the 2018 growing season will be dependent upon applications to register both the streptomycin active ingredient and an end-use product for treating bean seeds.

“We knew this day was coming,” said Bob Conner, a research scientist at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Development Centre in Morden. “I think (the PMRA) had postponed the removal of streptomycin sulphate as a seed treatment for a number of years… they gave us enough time that we could start to release resistant varieties, because in the long run, resistance is probably going to be the best option for controlling that problem.”

Resistant varieties elusive

But developing varieties resistant to common blight and halo blight has proved challenging, and Health Canada has indicated that preventing antibiotic resistance is a key motivator in changing regulations around the use of streptomycin sulphate.

“PMRA has recently learned that the research effort has not achieved the intended results,” Eric Morrissette, chief of media relations for the Public Health Agency of Canada, said in an email.

“Furthermore, in order to support the Government of Canada and WHO effort to reduce the potential for development of antimicrobial resistance, it is important that all uses of streptomycin in Canada be properly monitored. As a result, PMRA notified Pulse Canada in July 2016 that applications to register streptomycin for treating bean seeds will be required by June 2017,” said Morrissette. “The PMRA has advised Pulse Canada to work with manufacturers to encourage them to submit applications for registration.”

Needed for humans

Streptomycin is an antibiotic of the first class, which the World Health Organization recently labelled as “essential” for human medicine. It is used to treat tuberculosis and the bubonic plague, the latter of which is estimated to have killed 50 million people during the 14th century and still infects people to this day — cases of the plague caused by the Yersinia Pestis bacteria were documented in Bolivia, Peru, Uganda, China, Tanzania and Russia in 2014. That same year 9.6 million people were diagnosed with tuberculosis and 1.5 million people died from that disease worldwide.

Francois Labelle, executive director of the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers association, said that pulse producers would like to have as many tools in their tool box as possible when it comes to fighting and preventing disease, but he added that resistant varieties would be preferred.

“Developing new varieties takes such a long time that with some of these varieties, you know, it’s hard to say if they’re moving to them or not,” Labelle said, following a field day in Morden this summer. “There’s not been a lot of move to these new varieties yet, but hopefully there will be more and hopefully they’ll be as competitive as the other crops or the ones that are growing today.”

While Pulse Canada declined to provide an interview regarding the issue, it was clear the organization does not view the matter as resolved.

“There are a number of details on this issue that are still being finalized,” said a spokesperson for the organization. “We are not able to comment on it at this time.”

According to Pulse Canada statistics provided by Health Canada, approximately 98 per cent dry bean seeds imported into Alberta are treated with streptomycin prior to importation. In Saskatchewan, 67 per cent of imported dry bean seeds are treated, compared to only five per cent in Ontario.

Numbers were not made available for Manitoba imports, but Labelle said the percentage would be fairly low.

Copper-based products can be used to control blight, but are expensive and usually require more than one application. Even so, the use of imported streptomycin seed was never meant to be a permanent solution, Morrissette said.

“The use of streptomycin imported seed was meant to facilitate transition to other pest control measures,” he added.

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The appeal court on Wednesday dismissed a March 9 application from Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) seeking an interpretation of the province’s new rules and a stay pending the outcome.

GFO chairman Mark Brock, in a release Wednesday, described the ruling as “frustrating and disheartening for myself, our farmer-members and the grain industry.”

However, he said, the ruling at least “acknowledged that farmer rights have been negatively affected by this regulation and that it does create legitimate hardships on grain farmers in this province.”

The organization’s previous request for a stay was dismissed at Ontario Superior Court in October last year.

Writing for the appeal court, Justice Bradley Miller rejected GFO’s claim that the province’s regulation was “ambiguous.” GFO, he wrote, “has not identified a genuine dispute about the farmers’ rights and obligations.”

Granting GFO’s request, he added, “would be tantamount to amending a regulation through interpretation, a remedy well outside the court’s discretionary power to order declaratory relief.”

Miller granted that the new regulation “narrows the farmers’ range of legally permitted options” for pesticide use, but added that “limitation of a right does not, standing alone, create a justiciable issue.”

GFO said Wednesday its board will discuss its options for further appeals, but will also “immediately” hire accounting and consulting firm BDO to conduct an audit of the impact of the provincial regulations on Ontario grain farmers.

Over the next three years, GFO said, BDO will “investigate the socioeconomic consequences of these regulations, including the cost to farmers operating under this new regime and the cost to the future of food and fibre production in Canada.”

“To ensure the government truly understands how decisions like this impact our businesses, and with the goal of improving how agricultural policy is formed in the future, we are commissioning this audit and we will regularly inform the government of findings throughout this study,” Brock said.

Ontario’s neonic regulations were put in place last summer to meet a government target to cut use of neonic-treated corn and soybean seed by 80 per cent by 2017, to be used “only when there is a demonstrated pest problem.”

The regulations put the neonic insecticides — imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianidin — in a new pesticide class, Class 12.

Between now and the end of August this year, any Ontario corn or soy grower wanting to plant Class 12-treated seed on more than 50 per cent of his or her acres must complete a soil inspection pest assessment report.

Past August, a corn and/or soy grower wanting to use any Class 12-treated seed at all must complete a pest assessment report and present his or her certificate in integrated pest management (IPM) training.

Pest assessments beyond August must be done either via a soil inspection by an IPM-certified grower or professional pest advisor, or via a crop inspection by a professional advisor.

Ontario set up its neonic regs citing evidence that the Class 12 pesticides are “highly toxic to honeybees and other beneficial insects,” and could also harm aquatic insects if they run off soils into nearby watercourses.

The GFO on Wednesday cited a Conference Board of Canada study, conducted before the regulations took effect, estimating losses at over $600 million if farmers were unable to access neonics.

The appeal court, in its dismissal Wednesday, made no order as to the costs of the appeal. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Ontario court rejects grower appeal on neonic rules appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Many farmers can purchase seed that’s pre-treated, but what if you wanted to go the DIY route and do it yourself? Changing Times is a manufacturer that makes both dry and liquid applicators so farmers can treat their seed on-site before heading out to go planting. How does it work? The dry applicator uses a sifting mechanism that coats seeds before they’re planted.

The post VIDEO: Changing Times wants to change how you treat seed appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO), the body for the province’s corn, soy, wheat, barley and oat growers, said Tuesday the Ontario Court of Appeal has agreed to hear its case on March 9.

“We are pleased that the Ontario Court of Appeal has agreed to hear our case and to move quickly on the issue,” GFO chair Mark Brock said in a release.

GFO had said in November it would file for the appeal, after its previous request for a stay on the province’s neonic regulations was dismissed at Ontario Superior Court in October.

The group had sought to delay implementation of the regulations until May 1 this year, or “such time as the requirements of the regulation can reasonably be met.”

After its case was dismissed, GFO said it would also file a motion to the Ontario Divisional Court to have the request for a stay of the regulations reviewed.

Ontario’s neonic regulations were put in place last summer to meet a government target to cut use of neonic-treated corn and soybean seed by 80 per cent by 2017, to be used “only when there is a demonstrated pest problem.”

The regulations put the neonic insecticides — imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianidin — in a new pesticide class, Class 12.

Between now and the end of August this year, any Ontario corn or soy grower wanting to plant Class 12-treated seed on more than 50 per cent of his or her acres must complete a soil inspection pest assessment report.

Past August, a corn and/or soy grower wanting to use any Class 12-treated seed at all must complete a pest assessment report and present his or her certificate in integrated pest management (IPM) training.

Pest assessments beyond August must be done either via a soil inspection by an IPM-certified grower or professional pest advisor, or via a crop inspection by a professional advisor.

Ontario set up its neonic regs citing evidence that the Class 12 pesticides are “highly toxic to honeybees and other beneficial insects,” and could also harm aquatic insects if they run off soils into nearby watercourses.

Risk assessments

Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency is now running risk assessments on the neonics and plans to release preliminary assessments on thiamethoxam and clothianidin for public comment in December this year.

PMRA’s preliminary assessment on imidacloprid, released last week, said “no potential risk to bees was indicated for seed treatment use.” However, it noted imidacloprid has “very little reported use” as a corn or soybean seed treatment in Canada.

The PMRA last week also released a preliminary value assessment on the neonics, for public comment. It found neonic-based corn seed treatments, in 2013, showed a national economic benefit for the corn industry of about $74.2 to $83.3 million, or about 3.2 to 3.6 per cent of the national farm gate value for corn.

Neonic seed treatments on soybeans yielded an estimated economic benefit of about 1.5 to 2.1 per cent of the crop’s national farm gate value for 2013, or about $37.3 million to $51 million, the agency said.

In both corn and soybeans, PMRA said, those economic benefits appeared to accrue mostly in Ontario and Manitoba, while in Quebec, corn and soy growers’ expenses on treated seeds were “estimated to exceed the yield returns.” — AGCanada.com Network

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A TV network received a leaked version of the report, which environmental groups said proved neonic pesticides should be banned. In an emailed response, the department said the draft report, which has been shared with agriculture and other groups, “is based on the information that the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency had available at the time, but the report is not complete.

“In order to fully assess the value of neonicotinoid seed treatments to the corn and soybean industry and growers, more real-world information on typical pest populations relative to economic thresholds is needed. Health Canada will assess this additional information received from technical experts for inclusion into a public consultation document.”

Meanwhile, Health Canada will continue its review considering information from “provincial governments, Canadian grower associations and registrants as well as recently published reports by the Conference Board of Canada and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.”

John Bennett of the Sierra Canadian Foundation said in a statement that the PMRA report showed neonics provide “a very tiny benefit to a very few farmers. Corn growers in some parts of Ontario may be seeing an economic benefit of only 3.6 per cent while soy planters see almost no benefit (0.4 per cent). These numbers are orders of magnitude lower than the doomsday predictions of the agrochemical industry.

“Banning neonicotinoid pesticides will have almost no impact on corn and soy production, and the vast majority of farmers will actually make more money not using them,” he said.

Both the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and Grain Growers of Ontario, which represent most of the province’s crop growers, say the ban would cost their members millions and make them uncompetitive with farmers in other parts of Canada and the United States.

A recent economic assessment of the impact of Ontario’s neonic reduction policy said it will slash the income of the province’s corn and soybean farmers by more than $800 million annually without protecting bees any better than efforts already undertaken by farm groups.

The report done for Croplife Canada by RIAS Inc. of Ottawa reaches similar conclusions as an earlier Conference Board of Canada assessment of Ontario’s plan to chop neonic use by 80 per cent, a policy that has been attacked by most of the province’s farm organizations as well as several national ones.

Pierre Patelle, Croplife’s vice-president of chemistry, says the PMRA report has been made available to gain comment from technical experts. “It will be revised after the agency consults with them. To this point, it mainly has information by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, which is behind the neonics policy.”

He said neonics protect the seed while it is germinating, and stays in the plant to protect it from insects that would attack it. “An insect that bites the plant will ingest the insecticide. A bee or a butterfly that just lands on the plant is not affected by the pesticide at all. Studies of the pollen from these plants show the levels of neonics are infinitesimally small.”

RIAS said the Ontario policy reduces corn production by more than 2.6 million tonnes per year and soybean output by more than one million tonnes. “The proposed regulations are expected to reduce GDP in the corn and soybean sector by $345 million per year, and inflict further reductions in GDP on the Ontario economy of over $265 million per year. In total, the regulations are expected to cost Ontarians about $660 million per year.”

In addition to the financial losses, “professional agrologists find that the field testing requirements prescribed by the regulations are unworkable, and will not yield reliable estimates of the threat of pests to corn and soybean production in Ontario.”

Health Canada said it and EPA “are working together on the overall pesticide re-evaluation process for three neonicotinoid pesticides (imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianidin). An interim progress report on this is expected in late 2015, with a targeted assessment completion date of 2017.

In the meantime, PMRA has implemented a mitigation strategy including Best Management Practices for the 2014 growing season to reduce honeybee exposure to dust generated during planting of treated corn and soybean seed.

Health Canada said it will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the mitigation measures already implemented, review emerging data and continue monitoring.

The post Health Canada continues to assess neonic herbicides appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

However, during a protest Friday in front of Ontario Deputy Premier Deb Matthews’ riding office in London, executives with the Grain Farmers of Ontario and roughly 35 farmers took a more proactive approach, hoping to create a better understanding of farming practices and the need for seed treatments.

Mark Brock, chair of GFO and a Perth County farmer, was the chief spokesperson at the morning rally, held on the riding office’s front lawn. Instead of expressing only frustration on the part of crop producers, he chose to highlight certain gaps in the neonic-bee health issue — including the urban-rural divide.

“I think the big thing we brought forward was the concerns that we have as growers about this really urban-focused agenda around seed treatments, and this very quick timeline that they’re pushing forward with,” said Brock.

“You see reports coming out of the U.S. that they’re going to take a 10-year period to do some of this work that our government is trying to do in seven months. I know they’ve said it’s a phased limitation, but I think a lot of us feel the value of the seed treatments are going to be affected by this legislation effective July 1.”

Parkhill-area farmer and GFO director Joe Thomson was also on hand and addressed Matthews in her office, trying to provide a first-hand perspective on farming, noting Matthews is an urbanite and likely unfamiliar with today’s farm management practices.

Thomson said he believes Matthews, the MPP for London North Centre, did listen to his concerns, acknowledging there is an opportunity for some bridge-building.

In spite of the timing of the season, where some farmers were reseeding due to frost damage earlier in the week, and spraying already-emerged crops, Brock said he was satisfied with the showing. The proactive approach was exactly what he said he hoped for, as well.

Some individuals and organizations have advocated a more militant approach. Brock said he hoped more can be done using a calmer approach, though he agreed frustrations are beginning to mount.

In its current form, the Ontario government’s legislation stipulates that as of July 1, farmers will be restricted in the use of neonic seed treatments to just 50 per cent of their corn and soybean acres.

Any higher concentration will require an assessment of fields by an independent “assessor,” such as a certified crop advisor.

However, no official protocols exist on training these independent CCAs, and most crop producers and grower organizations are of the opinion that there aren’t enough of these trained specialists to make assessments possible in time for the 2016 planting season.

“The groundswell we’re getting from our membership is so much frustration and anger, and it is starting to show up,” Brock said, but added that’s all the more reason why cooler heads must prevail.

“A lot of producers are realizing now that we’ve gone through the planting season and have in their heads how this regulation is going to apply and the logistics involved, and they just realize how unworkable it is in its current form.”

GFO is encouraging farmers and the public to take to Twitter to show support, including the hashtags #onpoli and #ontag, typically used to denote tweets relating to provincial politics and agriculture respectively.

— Ralph Pearce is a field editor for Country Guide at St. Marys, Ont. Follow him on Twitter at @arpee_AG.

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