Reading Time: 8 minutes Two months have passed and it seems the adage, “time heals all wounds” just doesn’t hold up. Instead, we’re further into the debate on neonicotinoid seed treatments, but farmers seem no closer to a solution. They may even be a step backwards. There is still no compromise with the beekeeping sector, or with provincial politicians […] Read more
The neonic debate on the future of bees gets real
With tough new regulations on the books, even some beekeepers are calling for compromise
Pearce: GFO goes informative rather than inflammatory
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s not that farmers in Ontario aren’t frustrated and angry concerning legislation aimed at curbing the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments. They are. 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 […] Read more
Ontario won’t widen comment window on neonics: GFO
Reading Time: < 1 minute The public comment period on Ontario’s planned regulations for neonicotinoid seed treatments will close Thursday as scheduled, despite requests from the province’s grain grower group for an extension. The province has “refused” to extend the public comment period on the use of the insecticide group in seed treatments, Grain Farmers of Ontario said in a […] Read more
Making the case in the neonic debate
Can agriculture afford to lose to the non-science of neonic opponents? The costs would be even higher than you probably think
Reading Time: 13 minutes Here in early 2015, it’s becoming a recognized pattern in agriculture: another day, another article, another proclamation and another call for action, all revolving around farmers’ use of neonicotinoid seed treatments and the alleged damage this does to bees and bee colonies. To say there is an abundance of information on this topic is one […] Read more
The many facets of the neonicotinoid issue
The neonic debate is not a one-issue, one solution scenario
Reading Time: < 1 minute Whoever you talk to in agriculture today, most people agree this is not a one-issue, one-solution scenario. As Dr. Cynthia Scott-Dupree has stated this is more like a 1,000-piece puzzle. Making the case in the neonic debate The following are just some of the aspects involved in the neonicotinoid debate that may or may not […] Read more
GFO seeks longer comment period on neonic regs
Reading Time: < 1 minute Grain Farmers of Ontario wants the province’s environment ministry to reconsider the rush on the comment period for its proposed new controls on neonicotinoid seed treatments. The province has given the public, farmers included, a 45-day period ending May 7 to comment on its proposed regulations. “This is one of the busiest times of the […] Read more
Neonic rules ‘unworkable’ for Ont. corn, soy growers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario’s planned regulation to limit the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments might as well be a ban from where the organization sits representing the province’s corn and soy producers. After reviewing the draft regulation, which provincial officials posted March 23 for public comment until May 7, Grain Farmers of Ontario said Thursday it “strongly opposes […] Read more
Lowe’s to phase out sales of neonics by 2019
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Home improvement chain Lowe’s will stop selling a type of pesticide suspected of causing a decline in honeybee populations needed to pollinate key American crops, following a few U.S. retailers who took similar steps last year. The pesticides known as neonicotinoids (neonics) are sold by agrichemical companies to boost yields of […] Read more
Ontario’s neonic limits tabled for public comment
Reading Time: 3 minutes Proposed new controls on the use and sale of corn and soybean seed treated with neonicotinoid pesticides in Ontario are up for public comment between now and early May. The provincial government made its move Monday — three days ahead of a scheduled meeting between Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal and Grain Farmers of Ontario chairman […] Read more
The science of how neonicotinoids work
Reading Time: 2 minutes Neonicotinoids, like many of our insecticides, are neurotoxins that go after the central nervous system. We often refer to the nervous system as an organism’s wiring, but its workings are a lot more complicated because all physiological actions must take place at low temperatures that won’t damage the surrounding proteins. Any electrician will tell you […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
