Some canola growers in the United States are upset they can’t buy seed treated with a pesticide commonly used in Canada.
Most canola planted by Canadian farmers is treated with a lindane-based seed dressing to protect against flea beetles.
Lindane is not registered in the United States, said Tony Zatylny, vice-president of crop production for the Canola Council of Canada.
Until recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency didn’t pay much attention to lindane-treated seed because canola was a minor crop, said Robert Small, a seed grower with Agritel Grain Ltd. of Beausejour, Man.
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Most canola seed planted in the U.S. comes from Canadian seed growers and companies because U.S. growers have few registered chemicals and thus have a hard time growing seed, he said.
But when Gustafson registered a flea beetle treatment called Gaucho, the company raised the issue with the EPA, said Zatylny.
Gaucho adds about $10 per acre in costs to canola seed, he said.
“So now the U.S. EPA has to make a decision on lindane and kind of go from the grey area to more black and white,” he explained.
Professional seed growers and companies ship raw canola seed across the border, said Zatylny.
Small said his company takes raw seed to a North Dakota seed plant to get it treated with Gaucho for his U.S. customers.
But some U.S. farmers are lured across the border by the cheap dollar and cheaper seed treatment, and some Canadians are trying to sell the unregistered treatment to make a quick buck.
“Generally speaking, when you get that kind of situation, there’s always people who want to take opportunity of something like that,” said Small, who asserts certified seed growers aren’t involved.
Until the EPA rules on the chemical, U.S. growers caught with treated seed could face fines or have their crops impounded or destroyed.
At least one North Dakota grower has publicly complained lindane gives Canadian growers an unfair trade advantage, and suggested the border should be closed.
But Zatylny disagrees. He said lindane controls beetles for only three to five days after emergence. So growers also generally blend seed with Counter and Furadan to get two to three weeks of protection.
The total cost of seed treatment is equivalent to the cost of treating with Gaucho, he said.
“Even if the U.S. growers get what they want and have lindane-treated seed, that doesn’t really give them a real big advantage anyway,” he said. “I think that’s part of what’s been lost in this whole debate.”
The Canola Council is working with growers and regulatory agencies on both sides of the border to avoid potential trade irritants like this through harmonizing regulatory systems, he said.
The effort is part of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Zatylny noted trade in canola seed, oil and meal between the two countries goes both ways.
And it’s important to keep the issue in perspective, he said.
“In the bigger picture, we don’t anticipate any impediment to the flow of seed for crushing for oil or meal.”
