Ontario’s agriculture minister takes farm coalition in stride

by JIM ALGIE  

Ontario Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal is taking in stride the formation of a new farm coalition tackling government plans to restrict access to neonicotinoid seed treatments in the province, judging by a statement issued, Friday.

“As Minister, I will continue to advocate for our family farmers to ensure that policy is sensitive to their unique circumstances and those of the entire agricultural community,” Leal said in a statement released through his spokesman Bryan Bossin.

Asked to comment on formation of the group, Farm Action Now, Leal said he looks forward “to hearing more from this group as they work to identify and address issues, as well as bring new ideas to the table.” Meanwhile, the new group has added to four founding members only a day after it was first announced.

Ontario Canola Growers has joined Farm Action Now, vice-president Craig Reid confirmed in an interview, Friday. Launched Thursday following an inaugural meeting the day before, the coalition began with groups representing grain, hog and bean growers as well as the provincial fruit and vegetable association.

The new group seeks broad consultation among farmers and beekeepers, rural government officials and chambers of commerce as well as a commitment to science-based policy in agriculture. It “strongly urges” appointment of a commissioner to advise the government on regulatory measures and to “help grow the agricultural sector.”

Canola growers in Ontario and across Canada have adopted neonicotinoids widely since they were introduced in the early 2000s. Reid estimates that “every acre” of Ontario canola and 95 per cent of the crop grown elsewhere in Canada relies on neonic-treated seed.

Their use in Ontario corn and soybeans, however, has raised concern among some about a role in the phenomenon of colony collapse among honey bees.

Reid farms near Chesley and has a university degree in agronomy. He said published science on the subject shows neonics to be generally effective in controlling foliar-feeding insects and safe both for farm workers and the environment. Evidence about their impact on honey bees is less conclusive but part of a much more complex set of factors than simply neonics use, he said.

“I won’t say there’s not something going on but to blame this class of chemistry as the only problem that’s quite simply not true and the science doesn’t support that,” Reid said. Canola flowers for as long as six weeks and growers depend on successful insect pollination, often by honey bees.

“Honey bees make a huge difference to the success of the canola crop,” Reid said. “We rely on them as one of the main pollinators so there’s some information that’s not getting shared here,” he said, endorsing Farm Action Now concerns about new regulations.

Canola Growers officials were consulted about the formation of Farm Action Now but weren’t part of the originating coalition. That’s only because they were unable to reach enough board members for approval in time to meet timetables for Thursday’s announcement, Reid said.

“The final stages of this came together pretty quickly and we couldn’t get a hold of everybody on the board fast enough . . . to meet the press release deadline,” he said. Expected measures to control neonic use in Ontario show the government may be “abandoning an evidence-based and science-based, policy formation process and going to a lobby-based process,” Reid said.

“I think that spells bad news for agriculture certainly but also for any high tech business that wants to locate its headquarters here or conduct its businesses here. If sound science isn’t going to be the basis of decision making that’s not a very positive environment for any business to be operating in,” he said.

Neonic use is not a direct issue for hog farmers although Ontario Pork is an originating coalition member. Ontario Pork chair Amy Cronin said, Friday, that plans for government restrictions on neonics carry implications for all of agriculture.

“If the government were to start to make regulations on anything other than science it leads to, I think, bad policy and that isn’t good for agriculture overall,” Cronin said in an interview from her Bluevale-area, farm.

“I envision Ontario as a province that can thrive in agriculture,” Cronin said. “But we can’t have regulatory barriers,” she said.

“We can only thrive in agriculture if we’re able to compete with other jurisdictions,” Cronin said. “If there are regulations that come into Ontario that aren’t in any other jurisdictions in Canada or in North America it puts us as a competitive disadvantage,” she said.

“Ontario Pork hasn’t joined the coalition to be an adversarial group. It’s really to promote the importance of science-based decisions,” Cronin said.

The agriculture minister’s statement said he’s “encouraged to see new forums that will work to benefit agriculture and Ontario as a whole.” Leal claimed he maintains “a strong working relationship” with the agricultural sector.

“The only way we are going to grow the agricultural industry is by working together,” Leal said. BF