Enhancing Pollinator Health and Reducing the Use of Neonicotinoid Pesticides in Ontario

Jan 29, 2015

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Policy Division
Food Safety and Environmental Policy Branch
1 Stone Road West, Floor 2
Guelph Ontario N1G 4Y2

Re: Pollinator Health – A Proposal for Enhancing Pollinator Health and Reducing the Use of Neonicotinoid Pesticides in Ontario.EBR Registry Number: 012-3068

The National Farmers Union in Ontario (NFU-O) welcomes the opportunity to submit comments through the Environmental Registry to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on the discussion paper Pollinator Health – A Proposal for Enhancing Pollinator Health and Reducing the Use of Neonicotinoid Pesticides in Ontario. Please see the attached document for our detailed comments.

As farmers in Ontario, the members of the NFU-O are deeply committed to working with nature to produce healthy food and to protect and enhance biodiversity within and around our farms. We advocate for agricultural practices that are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable and built on the principles of food sovereignty. By working with and building our own knowledge and skills of agro-ecology we strive to protect the many organisms, including bees and wild pollinators, which provide economic benefits to our farms and contribute to a more beautiful countryside. Based on our commitments above, the NFU-O supports the approach taken by the Government of Ontario in its Pollinator Health proposal. We support the move to restrict the use of neonicotinoid treated corn and soybean seed to those acres which can demonstrate the need for treated seed and the commitment to increase the practice of Integrated Pest Management.

Source: NFU

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.