Neonic control proposal provokes strong reactions in Ontario’s farm community

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Comments

Barry Senft, and the Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) are being somewhat cheeky when complaining about an imagined "bureaucratic nightmare" of legislation governing reductions in the use of neonicotinoids, while at the same time enjoying the benefits of the bureaucatic nightmare of ethanol legislation - in other words, Senft and the GFO need to be reminded that "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones".

Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON

When I heard Mr. Senft on the radio to-day it reminded me of a Ken Lewanza union rant and make noise and keep your job . For the record we had 3 different varities side by side .2 with neonics and one without. The non-neonic was 5% better yield , which I realize may be genetic but with a good rotation on clay-loam based soils I don't think we need neonics on all our seed

Sorry to burst your bubble but white beans and other beans almost always get leaf hopper pressure at least twice a season from surrounding cut hay crop . Without neonics used to plan on two applications Cygon before the beans puckered up from the leafhopper toxin and remained stunted all year long. Then there is those debilitating aphids on soybeans.

I can take you in season to dozens of well managed farms both conventional and organic who are able to successfully grow excellent grain, oil seed and colored beans and make a good living doing so, with out the use of NeoNic's Big ag has a lot of farmers brain washed and Grain Farmers of Ontario Organization should shame them self's for being sell outs to big Ag.

I have never seen a more useless organization in all of my life. Grain farmers of Ontario, are a joke, they are so out of touch with reality and have an attitude that has show time and time again that they only want what is good for them.

Without a proper crop rotation and no use of cover crops you are going to be dependent on chemicals, which over time cause more and more need for them.

Agriculture is in a sad state when I see how many farmers are brain washed by BIG AG and the Dog and Pony show that is Grain Farmers of Ontario.

Grain Farms of Ontario needs to stop telling the urban media that they represent all grain farmers that is bs, I am a grain farmer and i consider them to be the Anti Christ to my farming business.

Sean McGivern

Dare we ask what you claim the other coalition members are? And for the icing on the cake what do you consider the OFA is in all this?

I think most farmers can work with "big Ag", afterall most of the seed,fertilizer and spray salesmen are our neighbours and friends.They are the experts and certainly know the conditions and circumstances of using what and where,when it comes to pesticides.Statistics show that there is a demand and need for these products.
However how do you work with a sector that says reducing neonics by 80% is only a start ?
How do you work with the Enviromentalists like the Sierra club,the Dr Suzuki's out there and media fueled urban prespective that pesticides are 100% reason of bee deaths.They only look at science when it benifits them.
I find it all too convenient for the Beekeepers president to say that it would take a couple years for the "poisons to dissipate"..in other words he is ready to keep blaming bee deaths on neonics years after their reduction.

We have never used NeoNic's and I would put my corn up against any ones, plant it in April or early May and we only grow it once in 5 years on a field, no NeoNic's required.

There are some really useless organizations out there, the best way to see how valuable a farm organization is, is to see how many members it has if they have to pay to be a member,

I think organizations likes Beef Farms of Ontario, Grain Farmers of Ontario or Ontario Sheep would'nt be able to to fill a church basement with paid members, if farmers had to pay to be a member, because they bring almost zero value to the average farmer.

Over the past 3 years I had 2 issues i wanted to bring to my so called elected Grain Farmers of Ontario reps attention I called several times to Mr Henry Van Ankum, and out of the 6 or so phones messages I left he never once called me back, these people and their organizations only represent their own interests and those of the corporations you buy their support.

Sean McGivern

President of the PFO a paid membership organization

Very seldom does an EBR posting get defeated. Been there done that! This is not based on all the science out there folks, it is based on the flavour of the day politics. Best case is it can be amended. So now what? From the article it is very clear that Neonics is simply the tip of the iceburg. All insecticides, herbicides and fungicides are on the slippery slope list. Then there is the unspoken antibiotics hit list.
The real kicker is there are some so called climate change experts at the government level who claim we should not even be growing corn. Do they think the USA would supply all our food needs including corn fed animal products? Or, perhaps they think we can all be vegetarians. Would that help eliminate some of the green in lake Erie?

This is just about neonics, no need to go into a speed wobble about everything else.

We farmed without them in the past.

The sun will still rise tommorow.

Raube Beuerman

Yep, and some people actually swallow the line, "We are from the government and we are here to help you".

Unless you are nihilist you will recognize the need for intervention on this issue.

Besides, as Mr. Thompson has already pointed out, famers sure do a lot of whining when legislation works against them(according to some), but you'll never hear a peep out of them when it works for them.

Raube Beuerman

We picked mustard out of fields and milked cows by hand.

Maybe the real forces behind the Neonics ban would have us go back there as well.

yes maybe we can get the supply management to help us maybe if they could give us free corn seed next year,,,then maybe next year when we need more corn give us more seed because if we plant 350000 seeds be acre we could sell the extra seed we don't plant and buy some more land so we don't have to pay the gov

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