DRESDEN, Ont. — Their provincial government’s shoot-from-the hip response to neonicotinoid seed treatment concerns may be just the tip of an anti-farmer iceberg, according to Grain Farmers of Ontario.
Chief executive officer Barry Senft made the comment in response to recent statements by Ontario environment minister Glen Murray.
“It doesn’t seem he’s satisfied with just this one issue,” Senft said.
“There’s no reason to believe the minister can be this misinformed by accident. He isn’t interested in the reality and impact of these regulations but rather a broader agenda on modern agriculture.”
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A spokesperson for Murray said the minister’s office will not comment on the assertions but is looking forward to working with the farm organization in the future.
The province has announced it wants to put clothianidin, thiamethoxam and imidacloprid seed treatments for corn and soybeans into a new pesticide category, Class 12. The new category is more restrictive, requiring farmers to meet a list of protocols.
Senft pointed to comments made by Murray at the Organic Council of Ontario annual banquet in Waterloo, Ont., April 24 and earlier at one of the consultative meetings set up to deal with the neonicotinoid issue.
Judging from those comments, Senft said other pesticides could be targeted by the ministry, including glyphosate.
Senft also took exception to Murray’s praise for the organic sector. At Waterloo, Murray said organic management helps reduce greenhouse gases.
Conventional farmers have also taken strides in that direction, Senft said.
Newspaper stories concerning Murray’s comment’s at the organic meeting focused on his assertion that the insecticide seed treatments are not delivering their promised yield benefit. Murray cited yield comparison trials conducted in Ontario as evidence.
“It was a little more useful for corn, but not that much. I would say the differences were marginal,” he said.
Senft was unfamiliar with the trials but said it’s been the experience of farmers that the insecticides are providing a benefit.
“It’s not only a yield advantage. It’s also about the quality of soybeans. It’s better (with the treatments),” he said.
“We’re not using seed treatment just for the sake of using seed treatment.”
Data from the Ontario yield comparison trials have not been made public. Sources with the Ontario Beekeepers Association said the provincial agriculture ministry and the federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency are involved.
“The PMRA has not requested yield comparison trials,” the agency said.
“Rather, the PMRA is seeking value information from the provinces to help draw a national picture of the value of corn and soybean seed treated with neonicotinoid insecticides.… The results of this request are not available at this time.”
Calls and emails sent to the Ontario agriculture ministry employee who was said to be in charge of the trials were not returned.
Murray said GFO felt blindsided by the provincial government’s announcement last December that neonicotinoid seed treatment use was to be reduced for corn and soybeans in the province by 80 percent by 2017.
The plan requires farmers to use an integrated pest management approach, prove they need the insecticides and, by 2017, have pest assessments completed by an independent professional pest adviser.
GFO wants the Ontario government to abandon its 80 percent goal, conduct a cost-benefit analysis and return to a dialogue with all stakeholders.
The organization maintains that there is no direct correlation between bee mortalities and neonicotinoids beyond acute exposure.
