Robert's Rants
Robert's Rants
A personal blog on the Canadian pesticide industry and other pet peeves and interests
Robert's Rants

Robert Percy is the Director of Operations for Gardex Chemicals, and has been with the company for 19 years, and a bona fide resident of Canada since 2002. Prior to that Robert worked 17 years with ICI/Zeneca, now formerly known as Syngenta. Robert had numerous roles in the company, including Senior Marketing Manager for the Stauffer acquired multi-crop herbicides, then the soybean and cotton herbicides Fusilade, Reflex and Fusion. His last assignment was with the non-Ag Group, Zeneca Professional Products, with responsibility for marketing and strategy for the US and Canada.

Robert hails from the great state of Kansas, and has a Bachelor's Degree in Horticulture. He's attended many post grad courses, through Kansas State University, the University of Kansas, Southwestern, and Wharton School of Business to name a few.

All opinions are his own and do not reflect the policies of Gardex Chemicals Ltd.

Mosquito Less(on) Learned

This just seemed like this little screw up needed documented. There have been several attempts at bringing 25b products or those Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS) products into Canada. You remember the EPA decided products like thyme oil, spearmint oil and other plant based extracts did not require a full blow data package, or any […]

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Let’s take the regional pesticide bans one step further, and bypass Health Canada in the process.

I’m bewildered at how local government can override all the data and research and chemists, ecologists, microbiologists, toxicologists, MD’s and Phd’s who work at Health Canada in the PMRA. That means the PMRA’s highly valued, educated, and respected scientists put in years of work for nothing? It certainly doesn’t guarantee the pesticide can be used. […]

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Trudeau coughs up $4bn for affordable housing! 7 new Toronto home starts!

A slight exaggeration but not that far off. As the new average home price hits $700k, we’re going to make some 5800 families happy. and thats all good, but Take that same $4 billion and hire 32,000 nurses and/or police and/or teachers at $125,000 each. Imagine the effect on 20 hour emergency room visits, and […]

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Read the Label…if you can!

Okay, so my ranting about this label issue and a major gap in communications that needs addressed continues! The fine print is too damn fine. Simple enough. The whole pest control manufacturing industry, at least those still dumb enough to be in the pesticide business, are required to put a label and a booklet/pamphlet/Directions For […]

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So about this “Residential” definition

It makes you wonder how many people (including children) sat around in a committee, eating tax dollar donuts, did it take to come up with a definition for ”residential”? This ones from Demand CS 11.2 Animal Housing (such as poultry and livestock housing) For indoor applications to residential areas (where the general public, including children […]

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Hey Doug, here’s how to save the Green Belt in 3 easy steps

Step one: renege on the deal brokered at your daughters shindig Step two: enact a new law that all golf courses can only have 15 holes Step three: build to your hearts content on the 90 hectares of land freed by making rich fat cats play 3 holes twice! There you go. Green Belt saved. […]

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It’s that time! Read the Label! I dare ya’…

To try to interpret the damn things. I know I’m getting old and dumb(er) but I swear the Direction for Use labels for new products, and those recently reviewed, makes it harder to actually use the product. In a recent poll, nearly 75% of the PCO’s residing in the US read the label, compared to […]

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I’m always amazed at the beauty of a simple Spider web.

I took the above picture last night as the sun was starting to set. Simply beautiful for a split second, with time and hour and planets lined up just right. like a tiny moment of Zen. 10 seconds later a yellow jacket hit the web and a short battle ensued, with the spider using all […]

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Twice-Stabbed poor thing

I don’t make these up.  A Twice -stabbed Lady Beetle.   Kinda Shakespearean. Coulda been “Black Ladybug with Two Red Spots” Spreading it’s elytra to dry out her wings.    

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