Ontario Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal continues to emphasize that the province's grain farmers will have access to treated seeds - if there's a demonstrated need for them.
Leal says that's one of the 4 key principles behind the government's proposed pollinator health regulations.
The second principle is implementing the regulations over time, allowing farmers to make the needs assessment on their own fields after a training program being paid for by the province.
The minister says he's looking for feedback on the how the long-term proposal to have a third-party assessment done can be made practical.
According to Leal, the other principles are engaging agricultural stakeholders in how to make the regulations practical and continuing to monitor and support pest management and pollinator health research.
He says those key principles came out of the earlier consultation sessions and online feedback.
The current proposed regulations are posted online in the Environmental Registry for feedback until early May.
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Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal says the 4 key principles come out of their efforts to engage all the agricultural stakeholders in the province.
[audio mp3="http://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/LEAL-Regs-11.mp3"][/audio]
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Leal says until the regulations are fully-implemented, farmers will be able to do their own assessments once they have the necessary training.
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Leal says the first of the 4 key principles of the regulations is allowing access to treated seed where there's a demonstrated need.
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