Farmers erupt on Twitter after province hammers neonics

By Tom Collins

It didn’t take long for farmers to react after the the provincial government’s decision to reduce neonic use in Ontario by 80 per cent by 2017. Here are comments posted on Twitter within 24 hours of the Nov. 25 announcement.

• “Wonder if Kathleen Wynne and Jeff Leal will foot the bill for all the acres that will need replanting every year due to no neonics.” — Middlesex County hog and crop farmer Jim Denys

• “Kathleen Wynne, Jeff Leal: what’s my life expectancy now handling soil insecticides at corn planting? Who cares.” — Moorefield crop farmer Mark Lumes

• “Implications of Ontario government’s announcement extend way beyond neonics. What’s next? GMOs? Fertilizer? Antibiotics?” — Guelph grain farmer Terry Daynard

• “Emotions and perception. Science has always advanced ag. This is a huge step back.” — Perth County sheep and crop farmer Sandi Brock

• “Unfortunately, Ontario, Kathleen Wynne Liberals don’t believe in science!” — Dublin hog and cash crop farmer David Vandewalle

• “So just so I’m clear, the west, Quebec, Maritimes, and USA all good to go for neonics. Ontario, we are going to restrict. Makes no sense.” — Chatham-Kent PRIDE Seeds regional manager Ryan Snobelen

• “How do you reconcile Kathleen Wynne taking one of few industries that’s been keeping Ontario economy afloat and cut it off at knees through regulation?” — Manitoba PRIDE Seeds agrologist Dieter Schwarz

• “Ontario loses neonics………. Now we’ll use much more toxic products.” — Dresden farmer and Ontario agricultural economist Philip Shaw

• “Today’s 80 per cent reduction of neonics, three crops from now, is appeasement for a few. No enforcement + everybody forgets = business as usual in 2018.”
— Fourth-generation Chatham-Kent sheep farmer Lee Brien

• “If you want to eat, you need farmers. What the Ontario Liberal government is doing to farmers is reprehensible. Pure politics.” — Trish Jordan, Monsanto Canada’s Winnipeg-based public and industry affairs director

• “This has very little to do with ‘big’ ag. It has everything to do with the Liberals thumbing their noses at good science.” — London corn merchandiser Dave Gordon

• “General public wants 20th century food grown with 19th century farming practices.” — Hagersville farmer Matt Beischlag

• “Does this mean Ontario will also be banning the imports of products treated with neonics as well?”
— Norfolk County farmer Mike Pasztor

• “Had bad dream I lived in a place that chased auto away, put up unprofitable energy projects, wasted $1B in vain, and ignores science. Oh crap!” — Chatham-Kent PRIDE Seeds manager Ryan Snobelen