News
Great Plains takes steps to protect honeybees
Ag chemical and manufacturing companies are taking steps to help prevent unnecessary honeybee deaths. As members of the “Pollinator Partnership,” Great Plains Manufacturing planters use a pressurized system instead of a vacuum system, “Instead of having a central place of discharging maybe all of the fugitive dust, carrying the neonicotinoids,” says Great Plains product manager Mike McClure, “We have it in a smaller area that is already deflected down to the ground, much like the legislation calls for, deflectors on the big fans. So, we already have that. We’ve had that from the beginning of our air probe meters that are about five years old now.”
McClure says studies to determine what’s causing Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) are ongoing but results are conflicting. He says they’re taking these steps in the event insecticides are a cause. He tells Brownfield, “There is enough to suggest that we need to do everything that we can do to prevent any fugitive dust, IN CASE, that is one of the reasons.”
Instead of talc or talc graphite to help lubricate the seed going through air planters, Canada is requiring the use of a Bayer Crop Science product which McClure says Great Plains is testing. McClure says, “This Bayer fluency powder is a new powder that does the same job but you use much less of it. So, Canada, for 2014 season asked that nobody sell talc and talc and graphic combinations and just use the Bayer fluency powder. So, that’s the reason we recalled all of our product that was in Canadian dealers and gave them the new Bayer fluency powder.” McClure says it’s working in Great Plains machines very well.
Add Comment