Pesticides

Commercial Pesticide Applicator Certification

Veterans: For information on how to apply for License Fee Waiver under Act 209, see Veterans License Fee Waiver Program: 2011 Wisconsin Act 209.

There are two types of commercial applicators:  1) Commercial For-hire Pesticide Applicators and 2) Commercial Not For-hire Pesticide Applicators. Certification is valid for five years.

Commercial For-Hire Pesticide Applicators

Includes persons who make contractual pesticide applications for which they or their employer receives compensation. Examples are employees of lawn care firms, pest control companies and custom agricultural pesticide applicators. Commercial pesticide applicators must also hold an annual pesticide applicator license. Pesticide application businesses may register an employee as a trainee for a 30 day period by filling this application form with the department.

Commercial Not For-Hire Pesticide Applicators

This group includes commercial applicators who make non-agricultural applications to land or buildings they or their employer own or rent and they receive no compensation other than their normal wages. Examples include a power plant employee who uses restricted-use pesticides for weed control on the utility company's property or rights-of-way or, an employee of a food processing plant who uses restricted-use pesticides for pest control only on the plant premises. Commercial Not For-hire pesticide applicators who use restricted-use pesticides must be licensed and certified.

Commercial not for-hire applicators who only use non-restricted use pesticides (general use) in the course of their employment are not required by state law to become certified and licensed commercial pesticide applicators.

The University of Wisconsin Extension Pesticide Applicator Training Program provides the training and training materials for pesticide applicator certification. Please visit their site for more detailed information on pesticide applicator certification categories, ordering training materials, training sessions and certification testing sites.

Effective Date: Certification is good for five years

Cost: Purchase training materials from the UW Extension's PAT program for $45.00 per certification category and $5.00 for each sub-category.

Agchem Management Pesticide Applicator Informational Video - You can select short, individual video segments (1-2 minutes) on topics ranging from worker protection, pesticide handling & mixing, spill response, commercial lawncare, pesticide drift, water quality, endangered species, and integrated pest management to clean sweep.

For more information: 608-224-4548 or email.