Farm minister George Eustice says the government will decide ‘relatively quickly’ whether to let growers use neonicotinoid seed treatments on oilseed rape this summer.

Mr Eustice was speaking at this year’s Cereals 2015 event, held at Boothby Graffoe, Lincolnshire, on Wednesday (10 June).

Growers want Defra to grant emergency permission for farmers to use neonicotinoids, saying the chemicals protect plants from cabbage stem flea beetle.

The NFU disputes the findings of studies which have blamed neonicotinoids for reductions in populations of pollinators, including bees.

For more news, photos, video and information on the Cereals event see our Cereals 2015 page