Archives – January, 2018
From: Politico (Europe)
UK prime minister’s environment speech is part of a concerted push to lure young voters with new eco-friendly policies.
By Sara Stefanini and Charlie Cooper
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The Tory fear of appearing “un-green” and uncaring about animal welfare and wildlife (both matters close to the hearts of British voters) was palpable. Now Gove, a leading figure in the campaign to leave the EU, is working overtime to assert the party’s green credentials all over again — an effort that Downing Street hopes will not only help woo younger voters, but also demonstrate a significant upside to Brexit.
January 11, 2018
From: Manitoba Co-Operator
Health Canada proposes some neonic restrictions
By Alex Binkley
Health Canada is proposing some restrictions on the use of three neonic pesticides for horticultural production but they would still be registered for use on field crops such as corn and soybeans.
Meanwhile the department will continue working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the State of California on the impact of the pesticides on pollinators and insects, Health Canada announced Dec. 21.
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January 10, 2018
From: Genetic Literacy Project
Rethinking the pesticides–neonicotinoids–bee health crisis narrative: Why the media get it wrong
January 9, 2018
From: Fruitnet.com
Bayer steps up insecticide game
Group inaugurates new greenhouse for insecticide research in North Rhine-Westphalia
Carl Collen
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Backhaus stressed the need for societal support for industrial research. “We are living in times in which populism and political polarisation are endangering the acceptance of modern science,” said Backhaus, citing recent emotionally charged campaigns such as the one against important insecticidal substance classes like the neonicotinoids, the debate surrounding the reauthorisation of glyphosate and the media response to reports on the decline in insect populations in some parts of Germany.
January 8, 2018
From: Left Foot Forward
Michael Gove is trying to face both ways on farming – but soon he’ll have to decide
The Environment Secretary talked the talk at a grassroots farming conference this week. Just up the road however, he was giving very different signals to the industry.
Natalie Bennett
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Then he spoke about the need to respect the Earth and nature in our farming practices. About the hidden costs of ‘cheap’ food. About being an ‘instinctive supporter’ of small mixed farms. About the EU being right on neonicotinoids, the pesticides that have been harming bees and other pollinators.
January 5, 2018
From: FarmingUK
Gove announces plans to change farm subsidies in ‘green Brexit’ overhaul
Farmers will receive money to make improvements to the environment under a new system of subsidies, Defra Secretary Michael Gove has announced.
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During this transition period, the government will propose to first reduce the largest BPS payments in England. It could do this through a straight cap at a maximum level or through a sliding scale of reductions, to the largest payments first.
He set out plans to scrap the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which he has previously said ‘environmentally damaging and socially unjust‘.
January 4, 2018
From: The Northern Daily Leader
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The work is being conducted as part of the four-year project ‘Assessing honey bee colony densities at landscape scales’, supported by AgriFutures Australia, though funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources as part of its Rural R&D for Profit programme, as well as Hort Innovation.
The project is being led by the University of Sydney with further support from Almond Board of Australia, Lucerne Australia, Costa Berries, and Raspberries and Blackberries Australia.
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January 3, 2018
Editor’s Note: Neonicotinoids and genetically improved crops are the joint targets of a consequences-be-damned decision by Boulder County Commissioners. The county’s decision ignores the environmental devastation be wrought by the European Union’s neonicotinoid restrictions as the EU shifts toward medieval agricultural practices to feed its people.
From: EcoWatch
GMO Crops, Bee-Killing Insecticides to Be Banned on Boulder County-Owned Land
Boulder County, Colorado will completely phase out genetically modified (GMO) corn and sugar beets, and neonicotinoid insecticides on county-owned land.
January 2, 2018
