The Rural Voice, 2019-05, Page 6The Editor,
Writer, Gary Kenny, presents a
rather one-sided and misleading
perspective in the March column of
The Rural Voice called “Gram never
heard of neonics.” His information
about risks associated with neonicoti-
noid insecticides seems to originate
from anti-pesticide sources – rather than
the Pesticide Management Regulatory
Agency (PMRA) of Health Canada.
Neonics came into usage about 15
years ago as safe-to-people, low-
environmental-impact pesticides,
replacing more harmful insecticides
formerly used for protecting food-crop
and ornamental plants.
In 2012-2013, PMRA examined
possible linkages between neonic seed
treatments and honeybee deaths. The
agency concluded that a talc powder
then commonly used in corn planting
could create neonic-laden, wind-blown
dust potentially harmful to bees.
PMRA mandated a change to this
practice; the agency has not identified
neonic seed treatment as a serious risk
to honey bees since then. A potentially
larger concern may be effects of this
insecticide on a water insect found in
some prairie water sloughs. That’s stil
under review.
The amount of neonics measured in
flower pollen or nectar has been found
in research to be at concentrations
significantly below those known to
harm honeybee colonies. Studies
claiming the reverse almost invariably
involve forced, artificial exposure of
honey or wild bees to concentrations
above those found in the real world.
Honeybee colony numbers continue
to increase in Ontario according to
Statistics Canada. Annual surveys done
by the Canadian Association of
Professional Apiarists in recent years
have not revealed neonics to be a
significant health concern according to
most Ontario beekeepers.
Because of changes made by the
Wynne government, most corn and
soybean seed used by Ontario farmers
is now protected using other
insecticides, though neonics are still
needed for some smaller-acreage crops.
I am not aware of any evidence
showing that the well-being of Ontario
bees is any better as a result –
especially given that the dominant
health problem with Ontario bees is not
insecticides at all, but, rather, varroa
mites and various bee diseases which
the mites help spread.◊
– Terry Daynard, RR 7, Guelph
Farmers drove up
the price of land
“on our own”
The Editor,
Even though I have enjoyed a long
association with the Huron County
Federation of Agriculture (HCFA)
including having served four years as
HCFA President, and even though I
would benefit from anything that
would reduce my farm property taxes,
the HCFA acted irresponsibly by
recently asking Huron County Council
for relief in the way farm property
taxes are calculated.
The HCFA doesn’t seem to be able
to understand that we farmers “called
the tune” when we drove up the price
of farmland entirely on our own, but
now we “don’t want to pay the piper”
and are calling on government to bail
us out of a problem we created for
ourselves, by ourselves.
To look at it another way, the
HCFA seems to have never heard of
the investment adage – “If you can’t
afford to keep it, how can you afford to
buy it?”
What’s worse is that if this tax relief
for farmers had been granted, it would
have resulted in even further increases
in the price of farm land at which time
the HCFA would no doubt be back
once again asking for even more tax
relief.◊
– Stephen Thompson, Clinton, ON
2 The Rural Voice
Mites are a
worse problem
for bees than
neonics
Feedback
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Editor may be
sent to The
Rural Voice,
P.O. Box 429,
Blyth, On
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