The Richland County Extension office, in cooperation with extension agents from adjoining counties and other professionals, will host two evening pesticide classes on Nov. 15-17 at the new extension building on North Central Avenue. The classes will enable people to obtain necessary pesticide points to remain current with their applicators licenses. Those who attend both classes will earn a total of four points.
“People need to have points to keep their licenses current,” says Richland County Extension Agent Tim Fine. “We were unable to host the regional pesticide meetings held last month, so this is our way of attempting to offer pesticide credits to those who need them.”
The first evening class, scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 15, will cover pesticide safety. The evening begins at 5:30 p.m. with four scheduled presentations. Attendees will learn how to navigate the Montana Private Applicator website. Fred Whiford, Purdue pesticide specialist, will discuss how to test storage tanks and sprayer tanks for structural integrity, and Ken Nelson, McCone County extension agent, will talk about pesticide storage and security.
Following a short break, Diana DeYoung, Montana Department of Agriculture, will discuss USDA recordkeeping requirements for private applicators. Shelly Mills, Valley County extension agent, will finish out the evening presentations with a discussion on pesticide movement in the environment.
The second evening of classes, scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 17 at the Richland County Extension building, North Central Avenue, begins with a 5:30 p.m. welcome and will focus on weeds, diseases and insects. The first of the five sessions will be a repeat of the Tuesday night session, with a discussion on navigating the Montana Private Applicator website. Following this presentation, Dr. Mary Burrows, extension plant pathologist, will discuss via a recorded session the problematic plant diseases in 2011 and their control. Following this recorded session, attendees will hear another recorded session by Dr. Kevin Wanner, extension entomologist, on insect issues in crop fields and their control.
Following a short break, attendees will hear a session on prevention management of herbicide resistance, followed by a discussion given by USDA/ARS Botanist John Gaskin, Northern Plains Agricultural Research Lab, Sidney. Gaskin will discuss the bio-control successes and failures at the ARS.
Fine urges those who need pesticide points to attend these evening classes. All other interested people may attend as well.
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