Farmers warn EU neonic ban hitting oilseed yields
EU oilseed rape production is expected to fall by as much as 7% this year, compared with 2014, mainly as a result of the EU suspension of neonicotinoid insecticide seed treatments, warns EU farmers’ group Copa-Cogeca. The prediction is based on the group’s latest analysis of this season’s new crops and insect damage. Last December, it said that farmers were reducing their oilseed rape plantings because of fears over losses to pests.