Archives – January, 2016
From: Farmers Forum
By Tom Collins
OTTAWA — One of the most commonly-used neonics for seed treatments has no potential risk on honeybees, says a joint consultation study between Health Canada, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California’s environmental agency.
All three of the most common neonics — imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianidin — are used in corn and soybean seeds and are being re-evaluated by Health Canada’s the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA). Health Canada began studying neonics in 2012 and its Jan. 6 report looked at imidacloprid specifically. Reports on the other two neonics will be released later this year.
January 14, 2016
From: Chatham Daily News
By Trevor Terfloth
Seed industry representatives say a recently released federal report on neonicotinoids, or neonics, has stated what was believed all along.
In a pre-release summary, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency said neonics applied directly to the soil might put pollinators at risk, but it adds: “No potential risk to bees was indicated for seed use.”
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A full document is expected to be released later this month.
Read Complete Article
January 13, 2016
Editor’s Note: See CRE’s Data Quality Alert to EPA, Data Obfuscation Biases EPA’s Neonicotinoid-Soybean Study Against Farmers.
From: BlackburnNews.com
By Ray Baynton
The federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency says there is an economic benefit from the use of neonic seed treatments for the country’s corn and soybean growers.
A report released by the agency this week suggests the corn industry benefit ranges from 74 point 2 to 83 point 3 million dollars.
It puts the soybean benefits lower – ranging from 37 point 3 to 51 million dollars.
Read Complete Article
January 11, 2016
From: HuffPost | Science
Jon Entine
As the Washington Post headlined in a July story, “Call off the bee-apocalypse: U.S. honeybee colonies hit a 20-year high.” Now that the world entomological community is in general agreement that the United States and global honeybee population is not, and has never been, threatened with extinction by pesticides, the focus of advocacy concern has suddenly shifted to wild bees.
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January 8, 2016
Editor’s Note: Health Canada/Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s complete “Re-evaluation Note REV2016-05, Re-evaluation of Imidacloprid – Preliminary Pollinator Assessment” is available here. Below is an excerpt.
Seed treatments
No potential risk to bees was indicated for seed treatment use.
The data set available to assess risk from treated seed included residue information in pollen, nectar or flowers of Canadian relevant crops, Tier II tunnel studies and Tier III field studies specific to seed treatment applications. Available higher tier tunnel-studies and field studies with seed treatments did not result in notable effects on bees.
January 7, 2016
From: Chatham Daily News [Canada]
By Debora Van Brenk, The London Free Press
A long-awaited federal report on a controversial crop-seed pesticide says neonicotinoids don’t pose any risk to honeybees.
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But it states unequivocally, “No potential risk to bees was indicated for seed use.”
That sentence is a vindication to grain farmers, who have long defended their use of the pesticide as necessary to their livelihoods.
Read Complete Article
January 7, 2016
From: Miami Herald
Lethal, bacterial infection at threat to fruit nationwide.
Long-term solution lies with genetic engineering.
By HENRY I. MILLER
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Nevertheless, it will be a decade or more before these disease-resistant trees have received regulatory approvals, been planted widely and are yielding fruit. Until then, there is only one effective treatment: a soil drench of neonicotinoid (“neonic”) pesticide (derived from the naturally occurring nicotine found in plants) at the base of the young citrus tree’s trunk. This enables the chemical to be taken up through the roots, which keeps it from affecting other flying insects or pollinators, as spraying can.
January 6, 2016
Editor’s note: For more information about the fatal flaws in EPA’s soybean-neonic economic analysis, see CRE’s Data Quality Alert to EPA, Data Obfuscation Biases EPA’s Neonicotinoid-Soybean Study Against Farmers.
From: KTIC | 840 Rural Radio
BY DTN/Progressive Farmer
Soybeans will still be treated with neonicotinoid insecticides in 2016, but that could change when the EPA finalizes its economic assessment of the practice. (DTN photo by Jim Patrico)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has missed a few of its 2015 deadlines in its scheduled review of neonicotinoid insecticides. Among them is the finalization of an economic assessment of the use of neonicotinoids in soybean seed treatments, which the agency released in October of 2014.
January 4, 2016
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