Don’t be stung into criticism... bees won’t be affected by controls
ANGELA SARGENT, a tenant farmer’s wife, on the importance of insect life to our crops and farmland
ON our farm, we used to provide a home for numerous beehives and we loved seeing the bees going about their business and even when they swarmed, they were fascinating to watch.
You may have read about farmers applying to regain the use of neonicatinoids and are horrified at the thought that pollinators and bees are being put in danger.
Well, there are a few things to clarify: firstly, the derogation to use these is only for use on non-flowering crops, such as sugar beet.
The bees are not attracted to plants that don’t have flowers (sugar beet being one) and so won’t be in contact. Sugar beet production has been seriously affected by the weather and plant disease over the last few years and ‘virus yellows’ are a threat now.
Secondly, if the national beet quota falls below the necessary amount, then we will see sugar imported to make up the shortfall - and this will have been grown in less regulated areas (other countries have applied for derogation in the EU and those outside don’t bother).
The third point is that neonic-treated seed, which then grows into the plant, only affects the pest that bothers that plant, no other, but the consequential use of pesticide if no treated seed is used, kills all pests (good and bad) including ladybirds, etc as the whole field has to be treated and because these are not as successful at keeping pests at bay, then the field is treated more often.
There is also a list of com
pliance associated with the derogation to ensure it is used carefully and can only be used for a particular time period and the uncertainty over whether to allow the derogation or not means that soon it will be too late to use the treatment for this season and so growers will go out of beet production, thereby leaving the door open permanently to importing unregulated loads a case of exporting your ethical conscience.
The same can be said of the new Entry Land Management scheme in a way – by making the scheme too demanding and impractical – such as intended for the uplands, you will either have very low uptake or you will drive much food production out of the equation.
Good intentions on both counts – neonics and the environment, but unintended consequences can often be worse!
Why do visitors to the Peak District and countryside come? It’s because it’s beautiful and why is it beautiful? Because it’s been managed and managed cheaply by farmers over hundreds of years!