It was the typical start for a conference session. The chair announced the locations of the nearest emergency exits and the washrooms (a little clue as to the location of the conference). Then, to my astonishment, the location of the nearest defibrillator was described. The conference had 10 concurrent sessions held in three separate buildings, each a few hundred metres apart. The temperature outside was -15 Celsius and there was a biting wind and so going from one building to another between talks was more than bracing. It turns out that there was a defibrillator in each building which led to an overheard remark from a farmer to his father, something along the lines of, “that is awesome news because I would not bother to go to another building just for you”. I am sure that it was meant in jest.
The conference was held in an area of Canada surrounded by the great lakes. This meant that the winters are relatively mild, compared to the prairies. For instance, it was -37 Celsius in Winnipeg and Saskatoon at the time. The ‘milder’ winters mean that they can grow winter wheat and the basic rotation is winter wheat, grain maize and soya beans. However, the income from soya is so attractive that in that area alone there will be around 400,000 hectares of soya following soya this year. Agronomists are very concerned about the control of sclerotinia in the second soya.
There were 1400 delegates attending each day of the two day conference and there were an additional 100 who would like to have attended but applied too late. The vast majority were farmers who turned up in very large or extremely large pickups (utes). The benefit of these vehicles was demonstrated by the ability to get away from the conference in heavy snow conditions.
There were only two plenary talks to the whole audience. One was from a farm economist from the University of Virginia and the next day there was one by a tornado chaser. The economist gave a light hearted talk but towards the end provided the message that it was going to be tough in the commodity markets for the next few years. He said that North American farmers had got complacent about cost control and now was the time to prepare.
It is true that there seems to be a lot of new machinery on farms but the farmers who spoke at the conference (many of the talks were delivered by farmers) seem to be investing in new approaches that will hopefully not only be more labour productive but also improve soil health. I do not take this as complacency but using profits to invest in the future. The next blog will cover some of the initiatives that North American farmers are taking to improve soil health.
The conference was held in Ontario and the provincial parliament is introducing legislation to target a reduction in the use of neonic seed dressings by 80%. The legislators seemed proud of the fact that they are first in North America to impose restrictions on the use of this chemistry. However, it was pointed out in a local paper that the representatives in the majority party in the provincial parliament all represented urban constituencies.
The arguments for and against neonic seed dressings were sadly familiar and the proposed processes that individual farmers will have to go through to prove that they must have access to these seed dressings in the future appear impractical and naïve. According to agronomists, around 10% of the current area of use is where reliable and significant gains each year would be expected. The rest of the current use has to be classified as risk management with gains being less predictable but overall these seed dressings provide significant benefits for food production.
Farmers and agronomists do not argue that as a result of the air exhaust from pneumatic seed drills (primarily maize planters) the possible localised high doses in non-cropped areas adjoining to where neonics seed dressings are used can cause damage to non-target organisms, such as bees. They are vehement that the responsible use of these seed dressings is safe to bees. Last year the pneumatic seed drills began to be fitted with deflectors to ensure that the waste air was not exhausted into adjoining non-cropped areas. In addition, a lubricant had to be added to pneumatic seed drills in order that there was less chemical in the air exhaust. It is claimed that these measures resulted in overall bee losses in the environment being reduced down to a typical level.
This is to be applauded but I do wonder why it was not done before and at a time when perhaps such draconian measures by the Province could have been avoided. The issue of dust from the seed dressings in the exhaust air of the pneumatic seed drills has been recognised in Europe for some time.
I suspect it was all to do with the politics of the confrontation between the industry and the green movement. In such a febrile debate, admitting bee deaths as a result of high doses in the exhaust air from the drills would have been seen as a negative argument for the retention of the seed dressings. In a perfect world where rational debate is based on good science this may not have occurred. It is a lesson to all those who say that such matters need not necessarily be based on good science but demonstrably, a debate without verified facts can lead to a situation where everyone loses.
A final word on health and safety. My wife regularly visited a lady who has just died at the age of 98. She was once ‘in service’ to an eminent Cambridge family. The family summered in a house in northern England that is now a National Trust property. The servants’ quarters were on the top floor which had poor access to the rest of the house. So the first thing they did on arrival at the house was to do a fire drill which involved this lady, as both the smallest and youngest housemaid, being placed in a sling and lowered from an attic window by block and tackle. She said it was terrifying! If it were me, I would require a defibrillator.
Image: Wheat harvest in South West Ontario