Rethus: Rise to the challenge
AWimmera farmer is confident Europe’s boycott on an insecticide used to grow Australian canola will only make farmers’ growing techniques more versatile.
European canola buyers have ordered Australian farmers to stop using omethoate on their crops if they wish to continue exporting into their market.
Farmers say omethoate, a chemical used to kill red-legged earth mites, is particularly useful in establishing a canola crop.
The chemical, commercially known as Le-mat, is legal and approved by Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, APVMA.
Horsham farmer Tim Rethus said he believed Europe’s move to phase the insecticide out of its market would be challenging for farmers.
“Canola is very susceptible to everything when it’s small, but once it is established it’s pretty much indestructible,” he said.
“Nurturing it at the small stage is the really tricky part.”
But Mr Rethus said farmers should rise to the challenge.
“Europeans are obviously concerned about it – this just means if you’ve got a bag of tools, you’ve taken one of your spanners out,” he said.
“There is the whole point of ‘can we not use chemicals?’ and of course we can – you can do it with careful management and farmers can do it with modern, advanced farming techniques.”
The European Union is Australia’s major export market for the crop, accounting for about 60 percent of total canola exports in 2019-20.
European buyers also prefer non-genetically modified canola, of which Australian growers largely conform.
This gives Australian producers an edge over their greatest competitor, Canada, which grows solely GM canola.
Mr Rethus said if farmers continued to adapt it would help Australia secure a place in the market over its competitors.
“If we can overcome it, it creates a niche, because if farmers in other countries can’t do it and we can, that will lock us into the European market even stronger,” he said.
“Rather than looking at it like we need to prevent all these things being lost, we should be behaving as the leading farmers we are – Australia is recognised worldwide for having some of the smartest and most innovative farmers.
“Farmers are already trying to use less chemicals. If scientists can continue to come up with more research about using less insecticides, farmers will jump on that quite quickly.”
Victorian Farmers Federation Horsham branch president Graeme Maher is continually trying to work out ways to use less chemical.
But he said market pressure was making it more challenging for farmers who were already contending with the unpredictable nature of the agricultural industry.
“I am personally trying to work out a way not to use chemicals, but this just adds more pressure to farmers. We work within the rules to try to do as best a job as we can,” he said.
“The message is clear – they want us to use less and less chemicals.
“European Union is notorious for banning chemicals, they already banned glyphosates and don’t accept genetically modified canola.
“You can’t use glyphosates and now they’re trying to get rid of insecticides, they’re using that as a way to disrupt the whole process.”