Jim Parks believes the heavier and thicker root system of a LumiGEN-treated corn plant means a more robust crop.

New seed treatments broaden protection against crop diseases, pests

Corteva launch in Canada adds to the suite of products for corn and canola

Reading Time: 3 minutes Protecting a crop against weeds, diseases and pests is a challenge any year, but in a year of higher-than-average prices, the value of robust protection takes more importance. As growers continue to look for every competitive advantage to maximize profits, two new seed treatments have entered the market, one for corn and the other for […] Read more

“There is uncertainty every spring about the conditions you’re going to experience, so a broad-spectrum seed treatment is always a worthwhile addition.” – David Kaminski, Manitoba Agriculture.

No ROI for seed treatments — so far

Results to date were from dry years, so watch for 2022 results

Reading Time: 3 minutes Sometimes it’s all or nothing where Mother Nature is concerned. The growing seasons in 2020 and 2021 were both dry, so it’s perhaps not surprising that in a trial designed to quantify the impact of using a seed treatment on spring wheat, there’d be very little return on investment in those years. It’ll be more […] Read more


Health Canada is calling for a three- to five-year phase-out of imidacloprid from farm use over potential risks to aquatic insects such as mayflies. (OttawaRiverkeeper.ca)

PMRA seeks phase-out for neonic pesticide imidacloprid

Reading Time: 4 minutes Canadian farm use of the pesticide imidacloprid, from the controversial neonicotinoid family, is facing a three- to five-year phase-out from approval over its potential risks to aquatic insects. 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, […] Read more

Chlorantraniliprole (Rynaxypyr) offers protection from wireworms (above) and suppression of seed corn maggot, plus control of black cutworms and armyworms.

New seed treatment in a different class

A new mode of action could help confound several pests in eastern Canadian corn

Reading Time: 3 minutes Corn growers across Eastern Canada looking for help against early-season insect pests such as wireworms, black cutworms and armyworms will likely have a new option for the 2017 growing season. The timing may be ideal, considering the frustration over new regulations governing the use of neonicotinoid-based seed treatments, which will further tighten for the coming […] Read more


Western corn rootworm larvae. (Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Ontario court rejects grower appeal on neonic rules

Reading Time: 2 minutes The group representing Ontario’s corn and soybean growers, seeking a stay on the province’s new restrictions for use of neonicotinoid seed treatments, won’t get its wish from the provincial Court of Appeal. The appeal court on Wednesday dismissed a March 9 application from Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) seeking an interpretation of the province’s new […] Read more



bee on a flowering plant

The neonic debate on the future of bees gets real

With tough new regulations on the books, even some beekeepers are calling for compromise

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

Grain Farmers of Ontario chair Mark Brock speaks with media Friday on the front lawn of MPP Deb Matthews’ riding office in London, Ont. (Ralph Pearce photo)

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


bee hive

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

bee on a canola plant

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