When it comes to glyphosate, Grain Millers has chosen the wrong side of the debate, says the vice-president of Prairie Oat Growers Association. Edgar Scheurer, who farms near Dugald, Man., and routinely desiccates his crop with glyphosate, said Grain Millers is caving to activists who want to ban all agricultural pesticides.
“They should base these decisions on science and not based on pressure from the Sierra Club or whoever.”
Terry Tyson, Grain Millers procurement manager in Yorkton, Sask., said the policy isn’t based on pushback from customers or public pressure regarding the safety of glyphosate.
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“In our testing in the last few years on this, we never once found a sample of oats with glyphosate residues in excess of the established maximum limits.”
Scheurer said desiccating oats with glyphosate is a common practice in Western Canada. Of the growers who straight combine oats, about 40 to 50 percent use glyphosate to hasten and even up crop maturity.
He said oat quality would decline if growers can’t use glyphosate.
“When you swath, you get rain and then you get mildew. Then you get downgrades.”
