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drainage is our specialty


34


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • APRIL 2019 Threat to neonics spurs scare in spud growers


Seed treatment doesn’t impact waterways, tests show by SEAN HITREC


RICHMOND – The potential loss of a controversial class of insecticides has BC potato farmers on edge. Neonicotinoids, a group of pesticides chemically similar to the nicotine found in cigarettes, have been highlighted by environmental groups and government regulators as a pollinator killer. However, the neonics used by potato farmers aren’t usually delivered as foliar sprays – the kind of use that’s caused the most concern. But a review of the impact of neonics by the federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency could take it out of the toolchest of BC potato growers. This could leave them vulnerable to some common pests. “The fear factor is definitely in the industry. We are really concerned,” says BC Potato and Vegetable Growers Association chair and commercial seed potato farmer Bill Zylmans. “Pressures with bugs and new stuff


coming our way environmentally is just huge.” BC potato farmers primarily use neonics to protect seed potatoes from wireworms. The seed is treated prior to planting, and as the tuber grows, the plant takes up the pesticide and provides protection against other pests, too. Neonics were developed


by Shell in the 1970s and Bayer in the 1980s. They’ve been critical to the success of Lower Mainland potato production. With profit margins as slim as they currently are, Zylmans says even losing 2% of a crop to wireworm is the difference between making money and losing it. The supermarkets and restaurants that buy BC potatoes require no wireworm damage. “They're demanding a


picture-perfect product,” he says. “In the case of wireworm or some of these cosmetic defects, we only have a few products to help us. We could lose our market really quick. If you have no tools to control


Potato grower Bill Zylmans says BC growers could quickly lose their market for potatoes if they’re not permitted to use neonic-treated seed. SEAN HITREC PHOTO


those things, you're out of business.” BC’s pesticide specialist Ken Sapsford, who recognizes the importance of the products for farmers, agrees. “If [potato farmers] do not


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have the seed-piece treatments, first of all they are going to have no suppression at all for wireworms and [secondly] they will probably need to apply two to three applications of a foliar insecticide to control the flea beetles, Colorado potato beetle and aphids,” he says. A foliar spray is of greater risk to pollinators because it isn't contained and can be carried by the wind into adjacent fields where pollinators could be foraging. Ever optimistic, Zylmans sees the open and science- based process including the PMRA, province and farmers as a good thing. He


remembers a time when the chemical salesman’s words were taken at face value. Now, in the age of the Internet, farmers don’t rely on a single source when deciding what to put on their fields. “I go back to the 1970s


where pesticides were the saviour of everything, and so they're going to fix all our problems; destroy all our bad bugs and bad diseases and make things great,” he says. “Well, we've learnt that doesn't happen.” Zylmans credits integrated pest management (IPM) for solutions that help curb chemical use. In good conditions, seed-piece treatments might be the only application needed for the growing season, he says. Combined with IPM, not only are neonics saving the environment, but the farmer’s livelihood.


“We're not spraying just because we like to be running up and down the field and we like to be working with a chemical,” he says. “If [IPM] can save me one spray or one application of a neonic, or anything else for that matter, that's a savings to me [and] that's better for the environment.” Sapsford is optimistic that


recent testing will make a difference when the final decision on aquatic impacts, originally expected last December, comes down later this year. “I have heard that the final decision on the neonics is going to be different from the proposed decision,” he said. “The proposed decision is to cancel all outdoor issues. Any change from that is a good one. I don’t know where it’s going to go, but I am optimistic at this point in time.”


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