THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2016
VOL. 94 | NO. 48 | $4.25
Rural policing Communities may have to become more involved. | P. 28
100 bu. canola SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
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One farmer went all in, but the results were underwhelming. | P. 32
YOU MESS WITH THE BULL, YOU GET ... ALL OF IT WE SENT A REPORTING TEAM TO REGINA TO COVER 2016 CANADIAN WESTERN AGRIBITION. LOOK INSIDE FOR THESE STORIES:
PHOTO: Supreme Beef Challenge | P. 4-5 Agribition weathers move to new facilities | P. 4 Bison prices strong at national sale | P. 34 Teens receive Agribition scholarships | P. 35 U.S. Gelbvieh breeders make trek to compete | P. 57 Meet Agribition’s supreme champions | P. 60 Winning the junior beef extreme | P. 61 Top bull calf nets $70,000 | P. 62 There were a few wrecks during the Running with the Bulls event at Canadian Western Agribition Nov. 26. About 75 gutsy participants got in the ring with nine bulls for three heats of action. | WILLIAM DEKAY PHOTO
SEE THE WINNER OF OUR $10,000 WESTERN PRODUCER / DISCOVERY MOTORSPORTS CONTEST ON PAGE 23 INSECTICIDES
U.S. organic sector rejects all biotech Strict approach concerns Canadian observers
BY ROBERT ARNASON
BY ROBERT ARNASON BRANDON BUREAU
Organic agriculture needs to reconsider its hard-line stance against biotechnology, says University of Saskatchewan plant scientist Steve Shirtliffe. Otherwise, he says, people in the sector are in danger of becoming Luddites. In November, the U.S. National Organic Standards Board said it was rejecting all new forms of biotechnology for plant breeding, including genome editing and gene silencing. SEE REJECTING BIOTECH, PAGE 4
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DECEMBER 1, 2016 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Stn. Main, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4
Proposed neonic ban finds farmer acceptance BRANDON BUREAU
Grain Farmers of Ontario has bitterly sparred with the provincial government for more than two years over regulations restricting the use of neonicotinoid insecticides. The GFO called the Ontario government “anti-science” and “anti-agriculture” and even took the province to court. However, when the federal government proposed in late November to ban one neonicotinoid and investigate two other products, the GFO response was more restrained. Mark Brock, GFO chair and a grower from Staffa, Ont., said the
QUICK FACTS Imidacloprid is registered for a wide range of crops, but in Canada it’s mostly used on potatoes, fruit, vegetables and other horticulture crops. Growers of grains and oilseeds rely more on thiamethoxam, a Syngenta neonicotinoid, and clothianidin, a Bayer product. Those two neonics, applied as seed treatments, are used on most of the canola and corn acres in Canada and a portion of the soybean crop. organization accepts Health Canada’s decision. “As an organization, we looked to the federal government as our agency, Health Canada and the
PMRA (Pest Management Regulatory Agency), to provide a science based approach to the regulatory process of these chemicals,” he said. “I would be deemed a hypocrite, I think, if I were to throw Health Canada (and) PMRA under the bus.” On Nov. 23, Health Canada released a proposal to phase out the use of imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid insecticide used around the globe. The department said the ban is necessary because water bodies near agricultural land have unacceptably high concentrations of the insecticide. SEE NEONIC BAN, PAGE 5
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The Western Producer is published in Saskatoon by Western Producer Publications, which is owned by GVIC Communications Corp. Publisher: Shaun Jessome Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240
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