Observations regarding crop protection from the 2022 year

Dec 27, 2022

I have had the pleasure of serving as Acting Manager, Crop Protection, of the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada (FVGC) in 2022, and welcome the return of Caleigh Hallink-Irwin to this role in January 2023. During the past year, I have witnessed the ‘perfect storm’ regarding crop protection issues facing fruit and vegetable growers in Canada. In this article, I outline some of these concerns and comment on what FVGC is doing to address them.

Crop protection concerns

To begin with, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is mandated under the Pest Control Products Act to re-evaluate crop protection products every 15 years. This process has led to the loss of some of these products, or at least some of their uses, thereby impacting the control of insects, plant diseases and weeds in fruits and vegetables.

For example, the loss of most uses of the multi-site mode of action (MoA) ethylene bis-dithiocarbamate fungicides has left growers with alternative single-site MoA products that may be less efficacious and more prone to the development of pest resistance. Furthermore, some of those products that remain registered have had use restrictions added to their labels such as longer, agronomically unfeasible pre-harvest intervals (PHIs) or restricted entry intervals (REIs).

Where we are seeing resistance to crop protection products in the management of horticultural crop pests, some products with new MoAs are being developed but they are scarcely keeping up with current and anticipated future needs.

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Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.