Review of Bee Health

Ontario grain farmers are being told they need to get their voices heard on the neo-nic seed treatment issue.

The Pest Management Review Agency is looking at the use of neo-nics because of their possible link to bee deaths.

Grain Farmers of Ontario says the PMRA has received thousands of submissions calling for the banning of neo-nics.

CEO Barry Senft says many of those were probably prompted by the Sierra Club campaign against the treatments. He argues most of those submissions have come from people with a lot less at stake in the issue than farmers have.

While Senft doesn’t think the decision will come down to how many submissions were for or against neo-nics, he feels significant input from GFO members won’t hurt.

Grain Farmers of Ontario has a letter on its website farmers can use as their submission. The letter calls for any decision the PMRA makes to be based on scientific evidence to maintain the integrity of the approval process.