Mar 16, 2021

Time of the essence for Ohio pesticide and fertilizer applicator recertification

Ohio growers with private applicator licenses have had fewer seats and opportunities to re-certify in pesticides or fertilizers because of COVID-19 meeting restrictions.

On Thursday, March 25, they can accomplish one or both in live online webinars offered by OSU Extension, the outreach arm of The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

Private pesticide recertification will begin at 8:45 a.m. on March 25 and fertilizer recertification will begin at 1:30 p.m. the same day.

“Both webinars will be conducted live and growers must participate actively in the online sessions to receive recertification credit,” Mary Ann Rose, director of the pesticide safety education program at Ohio State, said in a news release. “In addition, each attendee must participate on a separate computer or electronic device to be counted in the attendance polls.”

Registration fees are $35 for the morning private pesticide recertification and $15 for the afternoon fertilizer recertification. The registration deadline is Tuesday, March 23, 2021.

Ohio growers must re-certify every three years, but Rose said that most wait until that third year.

They may also not realize the time constraints they are under since the Ohio legislature extended the recertification deadline to July 1, 2021.

“The problem is that we have few or no recertification meetings planned after March.  Farmers are usually too busy in the spring anyhow,” she said. “I encourage the private applicators not to wait – find a meeting in your county now, or register for this live online webinar.”

Register today at pested.osu.edu/OnlineRecertPrivate. Questions? Email [email protected].