Initial figures on Britain’s rapeseed harvest show yields are slightly above the 10-year average, says the Independent. This is the first harvest since the EU banned use of neonicotinoid pesticides out of concern that they harm honeybees and other pollinating insects. With 15 percent of the crop harvested, yields were running at 3.5-3.7 tonnes per hectare compared to the long-run average of 3.4 tonnes. The group Buglife said the reports were proof that “neonics” are not needed to control pests. The National Farmers Union says it’s too soon in the harvest for yields to be clear and that the yield estimates apply only to harvested land, not the 5 percent of fields that were destroyed or too damaged to harvest. “Even so, the total volume of oilseed rape harvested this year is likely to be at least as high as it was before the ban, according to forecasts from the UK’s largest distributor of seeds, fertiliser and grain,” said the Independent.