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(Dave Bedard photo)
Crops

Cargill plans to close U.K. rapeseed crush plant

Fewer U.K. farmers growing crop

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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 […] Read more
Emerging corn plants in Ontario.
Crops

Neonic ban decision expected in six months

Health Canada said it now has further information to consider in making its decision

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Glacier FarmMedia — Health Canada is expected to make a decision on neonicotinoid insecticides in about six months. Federal scientists have studied neonics and their potential impact on aquatic insects for years. The final judgment was scheduled for this autumn, but now won’t happen until the spring. “Due to the vast amount of new information […] Read more
File photo of apple picking in a Quebec orchard. (Noah Burger/iStock/Getty Images)
Crops

EU to ban Bayer’s Calypso insecticide

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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 […] Read more
Health Canada has released its final decision on neonic insecticides and their potential impact on bees and other pollinators. The department will take several steps to reduce the risk to bees, but neonic seed treatments will not be affected.
News

Neonic seed treatments seen as safe for bees

Health Canada ruling yet to come on safety for aquatic insects

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For years, groups like the David Suzuki Foundation and the Ontario Beekeepers Association have argued that neonicotinoid seed treatments represent a systemic threat to bees. “Health Canada… will be cancelling some uses of these pesticides, and changing other conditions of use such as restricting the timing of application,” a department news release said. “Remaining uses […] Read more
Jack Gray and Rachel Parkinson study locusts in their lab at the University of Saskatchewan.
News

Canadian neonic, metabolite research shows insecticide effect on insect navigation

Locusts in wind tunnels exposed to neonics lost their ability to move themselves where they wanted

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Drunk drivers are more likely to get in an accident because the alcohol in their blood impairs vision and delays reaction time. University of Saskatchewan biologists have identified a comparable phenomenon in locusts, when the insects are exposed to a small dose of insecticide. Why it matters: Farmers require a wide range of pesticides to […] Read more
Flea beetle. (Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)
Crops

Neonic phase-out may limit flea beetle control tools

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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 […] Read more
A mayfly on water. (SBTheGreenMan/iStock/Getty Images)
Crops

Phase-outs planned for clothianidin, thiamethoxam

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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 […] Read more
Corn growers have a alternatives to neonics, but fewer options in soybeans.
Crops, News

Neonic use dropping faster than provincial data shows

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Crop industry sources say Ontario’s environment ministry data understates the decline of  neonicotinoid insecticides used on corn since 2014. The ministry says use has dropped only 22 per cent whereas industry estimates put the decline generally at over 30 per cent and higher in some areas. Why it matters: The province has set a goal […] Read more
(Thinkstock photo)
Crops

Global study finds trace neonics in much of world’s honey

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A study by Swiss scientists has found trace levels of at least one neonicotinoid pesticide in three-quarters of the honey samples it collected from around the world. The study, spearheaded by a team from Switzerland’s Universite de Neuchatel and published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science, was meant to assess “global exposure of pollinators […] Read more
Ontario Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal (Photo courtesy OMAFRA)
Crops

Greig: A year of farm policy decisions ahead for Ontario

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Ontario’s agriculture minister stands by his decision to halt a process that was expected to open up how processing tomatoes are priced in the province. Jeff Leal’s decision, announced in August, resulted in a Dec. 21 threat from Ontario’s largest tomato processors to significantly cut back their tomato purchases from Ontario farmers in 2017. Processing […] Read more

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