Pesticide experts will go on tour Oct. 3-7 to help Eastern Montanans renew their private pesticide applicator licenses before the end of the year.
Private citizens who wish to purchase, use or supervise the use of restricted use pesticides on land they own, rent or lease need a private applicator license. Private applicators in Carter, Custer, Daniels, Dawson, Fallon, Garfield, McCone, Phillips, Powder River, Prairie, Richland, Roosevelt, Rosebud, Sheridan, Treasure, Valley and Wibaux counties need to recertify by the end of 2011, said Cecil Tharp, Montana State University Extension Pesticide Education specialist. Those 17 counties lie within Montana Private Pesticide District number four.
To help private applicators recertify before it’s too late, the MSU Pesticide Safety Education and MSU Integrated Pest Management programs will hold 10 meetings over five days. Simultaneous meetings will be held Oct. 3 in Froid and Scobey, Oct. 4 in Glasgow and Malta, Oct. 5 in Circle and Jordan, Oct. 6 in Baker and Miles City, and Oct. 7 in Glendive and Wibaux.
Each meeting will include a session on pesticide storage and security. A new topic for these training sessions, it relates to Homeland Security, Tharp said. Another new topic at some of the meetings will be the management of narrowleaf hawksbeard, an emerging weed in northeast Montana.
Most of the meetings will also include a session on pesticide movement in the environment. Other topics will vary by area, but they may include cheatgrass management in croplands, preventing and managing herbicide resistance, common plant diseases, common urban insects, calibrating ground sprayers, weed management in small grain and pulse crop rotations, biological control of weeds, managing noxious weeds in rangleland, USDA restricted use recording keeping, and various ways that pesticides can be misused so they end up in manure, compost or grass clippings and damage non-target plants.
Speakers from MSU, DOW AgroScience and the Montana Department of Agriculture will conduct the training sessions.
Private applicators will receive three credits for attending either the morning or afternoon session and six credits for attending all day. Government and commercial applicators who attend morning and afternoon sessions will be qualified to receive commercial/government applicator credits towards the categories of dealer, demonstration and research, agricultural plant pest control, right of way, special utility pest and regulatory weed pest control.
Montana has five private pesticide districts, with applicator licenses expiring in stages. Private applicator licenses last five years.
Courses in the 2011 Pest Management Tour are open to anyone who wants to recertify, but pre-registration is required for most locations so organizers have enough room and materials for those who attend. Some counties are charging a small fee to cover materials and lunch. Attendees should check fees and pre-register with their local Extension agent.
Agendas vary for each meeting. For locations, schedules and topics to be covered, check the Pesticide Education Program Website at http://www.pesticides.montana.edu and select the “2011 Pest Management Tour.” For more information, contact Tharp at [email protected] or 406-994-5067.
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