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Grasslands and Forage
The grassland and forage sector includes crops that are grown for feed and forage such as hay, alfalfa and timothy grass. The pest management concerns of this sector are the control of weed, insect, and vertebrate pests. This sector needs to ensure that the feed and forage they sell have only been treated with pesticides that have been approved for use in Canada, and also conform to the regulations of the importing countries.
The Canadian government does not set Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) for feed and forage crops. This legislative difference between Canada and certain other countries can cause non-tariff trade irritant issues. The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is working with hay and forage growers to help them address these issues.
The PMRA is working with growers to help them better manage prairie grassland pests such as grasshoppers and Richardson's ground squirrels. The PMRA is also assisting forage sector stakeholders, such as the Canadian Hay Association, to identify alternative products for the control of pests in hay and forage crops.
To benefit grassland and forage sector, Health Canada has dedicated staff that facilitates interactions among grower associations, growers, provincial and private crop/pest specialists, crop and pesticide distributors, researchers, scientists, registrants and regulators to work towards reducing risks in pesticide use. The goal is to help pesticide users to better understand the regulatory system and best meet their pest control needs.
This work provides stakeholders with:
- an understanding of pest control product issues from the user perspective
- assistance in understanding the processes and requirements of the regulatory system
- facilitated interactions between users and registrants of pesticides to address pest control issues
- monitoring of regulatory decisions to identify and follow issues affecting the industry to facilitate resolutions in their early stages
- assistance in identifying potential alternatives and reduced-risk pesticides inside and outside of Canada
The Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency welcomes your questions or comments. Should you require further information please contact the Pest Management Information Service. If emailing, please specify "Grasslands and Forage Sectors" in the subject line. If calling, please request to speak with the Grasslands and Forage Facilitator.
