All commercial pesticide applicators must take exams in order to become initially certified, and some choose to become recertified by exam rather than by attending continuing instructional courses. With the arrival of Asian soybean rust in this country, many commercial applicators are considering adding agricultural diseases (category 1C) to their certification so that they can apply fungicides.

Two training sessions designed to help prepare individuals for the commercial pesticide applicator examinations will be offered in southeast Iowa.

One session is in Marion on Wednesday, February 14, in the Linn County Extension office at 3279 7th Avenue.

A second session will be offered in Bettendorf on Thursday, March 22, in the Scott County Extension office, 875 Tanglefoot Lane. Training will begin at 9:00 a.m. at both locations.

The training sessions will cover the Iowa Core Manual and categories 1A (Agricultural Weed Management), 1B (Agricultural Insect Control), 1C (Agricultural Crop Disease Management), 3O, T, and G (Ornamental, Turf, and Greenhouse Pest Management), 4 (Seed Treatment), and 6 (Right-of-Way). Training on the Iowa Core Manual will be from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. Training on the other categories will begin at approximately 10:30 a.m. and conclude in early afternoon.

There is a $20 fee per person at each training session. These training sessions do not qualify as continuing instructional courses. For more information, please contact me at (319) 337-2145 (fawcett@iastate.edu) or Virgil Schmitt at (563) 263-5701 (vschmitt@iastate.edu).

Jim Fawcett is an Iowa State University Extension field crops specialist serving Benton, Linn, Jones, Iowa, Johnson, Keokuk, and Washington counties.