(Photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. EPA proposing temporary pesticide-free zones for honeybees

Reuters — U.S. environmental regulators on Thursday proposed a rule that would create temporary pesticide-free zones to protect commercial honeybees, which are critical to food production and have been dying off at alarming rates. The restrictions are aimed at protecting bees from “pesticides that are acutely toxic” to them, and would cover foliar applications when […] Read more



(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Supply-managed sectors bolster defenses against TPP

Reuters — Canadian farmers are stepping up their campaign against a nearly complete Pacific trade pact they fear will destroy protections for local dairy, egg and chicken producers and endanger jobs. Farmers in Quebec, which produces 40 per cent of Canada’s dairy products, ran full-page newspaper advertisements on Tuesday warning Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations threaten […] Read more




(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. bill to repeal COOL advances

Washington | Reuters — U.S. legislation to repeal country-of-origin meat labelling (COOL) laws, which the World Trade Organization found discriminate against Mexico and Canada, passed a congressional committee on Wednesday and moved one step closer to becoming law. The House of Representatives’ agriculture committee approved the bill on a vote of 38-6, clearing the way […] Read more





Former Man. agriculture minister won’t run again

Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger’s first agriculture minister plans to exit the provincial political arena. Stan Struthers, the MLA since 1995 for what’s now the Dauphin riding, and agriculture minister from 2009 to 2011, announced Wednesday he won’t seek re-election when the next provincial vote is held in April 2016. Struthers, a high school principal at […] Read more

(Photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. honeybee losses soar over last year, USDA finds

Reuters — Honeybees, critical agents in the pollination of key U.S. crops, disappeared at a staggering rate over the last year, according to a new government report that comes as regulators, environmentalists and agribusinesses try to reverse the decline. Losses of managed honeybee colonies hit 42.1 per cent from April 2014 through April 2015, up […] Read more