Pesticide Applicator Certification and Licensing: Updated with 2025 Pesticide Regulations and Competency Standards
Authors:
Wayne Buhler, Professor and Extension Pesticide Safety Education Specialist Horticultural Science and Esther Morris, Pesticide Safety Education Extension AssistantHorticultural Science.
Pesticides are vital for managing pests that reduce crop yield, spread disease, clog waterways, or otherwise jeopardize our quality of life. Common types of pesticides include herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, and insecticides. The goal of pesticide applicator certification and licensing is to protect people, property, the food supply, and the environment from pests and pesticide misuse by ensuring applicator competency.
In North Carolina, you need a pesticide license to apply pesticides for compensation on someone else's property or if you sell restricted-use pesticides (RUPs). Consultants who recommend pesticide treatments must also have a license. To obtain a license, you must first be certified. The certification process (training and testing) varies depending on whether you're applying pesticides indoors (structural) or outdoors. Farmers (private applicators) who want to apply RUPs to their crops must also be certified, but they do not need to be licensed.
This article asks if you know and explains the following...
Did you know that the North Carolina Pesticide Law of 1971 permits an unlicensed pesticide user to apply GUPs and RUPs under the supervision of a licensed applicator?
Unless stated otherwise on the pesticide label, the supervisor does not have to be physically present at the treatment site during application but must be available to the nCA by reasonable communication (such as phone or radio contact) and able to respond to emergencies. The supervisor and the nCA will be held responsible for any pesticide misuse.
The nCA must be trained to follow the label instructions, be familiar with safe handling techniques, and be aware of pertinent laws and regulations. Training must be completed before the nCA's first application and renewed annually. A state-approved video and other nCA resources are available on the NCDA&CS New Certification & Training Regulations - Pesticide Section website. Other training may be acceptable if the NCDA&CS approves it.
The full article with links to nCA training and record keeping resources is available at:
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/pesticide-applicator-certification-and-licensing
Also feel free to reach out to Melinda Roberts, the Iredell County Commercial Horticulture Pesticide Educator at (704) 873-0507 or melinda_roberts@ncsu.edu
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