News

Michigan begins oral exams for pesticide certification

Pesticide applicator training is a lot different this spring for Michigan farmers. 

Brian Verhougstraete with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development says the COVID-19 restrictions forced them to move away from the classroom-style test. He says, “We’ve had to shut down all of our exam sessions which leads producers and other folks that need to get certified in kind of a bad situation where they need to get certified.”

Verhougstraete tells Brownfield Michigan is allowing a one-on-one test for farmers and other private applicators this year. “What we’ve done is put together a process that allows the applicators to give us a call and schedule a time where one of our inspectors can get back with them and actually administer the exam, although in a slightly abbreviated version of the exam, over the phone.”

Verhougstraete says documents are handled by email or regular mail, and it takes a little longer to get someone certified.  He says the department is working on a backup plan to help certify commercial applicators as well.

Add Comment

Your email address will not be published.


 

Stay Up to Date

Subscribe for our newsletter today and receive relevant news straight to your inbox!