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Agricultural
Fertilizer Applicator Certification
From Sam Custer
OSU Extension, Darke County
Agricultural fertilizer applicator certification is now required for
farmers who apply fertilizer to more than 50 acres of agricultural
production grown primarily for sale. This requirement was signed into
law in June, 2014, and also requires certification for commercial
agricultural applicators. Farmers who have their fertilizer applied by
co-ops or custom applicators are not required to be certified.
Farmers and applicators need to attend a training course offered by
Ohio State University Extension to become certified. Those who have a
pesticide applicator license need to attend a two-hour fertilizer
certification. If an applicator does not have a pesticide license, they
will be required to attend a three-hour fertilizer certification.
A three-hour certification program for any applicator who does not have
a pesticide license will be offered on March 18, 2016, 8:30 a.m. to
2:30 p.m. This free meeting, including lunch, will meet the
certification requirements for those with and without a pesticide
license. Dr. Scott Shearer, Professor and Chair Department of Food,
Agricultural and Biological Engineering, College of Food, Agricultural,
and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, will be the
keynote luncheon speaker. His topic will be Unmanned Aerial Systems
(Drones) in Agriculture. Pre-registration is required and online
registration is available at nutrienteducation.osu.edu. You can also
register by calling 937.548.5215.
Fertilizer is defined for the regulation as any substance containing
nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, or other plant nutrient in a dry or
liquid formulation. All application types such as broadcast, side
dress, sub-surface, knifing and other are included in the certification
requirement. Lime and limestone are not included as fertilizer for the
certification and farmers who only use starter fertilizer in their
planter boxes are exempted. Applicators who are a Certified Crop
Advisor (CCA) or Ohio Certified Livestock Manager are not required to
attend the training. The agriculture fertilizer certification is not
required for manure applications as these are currently regulated.
Applicators who meet the criteria for the certification must attend
training by September 30, 2017. The Ohio Department of Agriculture is
the agency issuing the certification for
agriculture fertilizer applications. Their website has information
regarding the regulation at agri.ohio.gov. For more information about
other training sessions or general materials for the agriculture
fertilizer certification, visit nutrienteducation.osu.edu or Sam Custer
at custer.2@osu.edu.
For more information about OSU Extension, Darke County, visit the Darke
County OSU Extension web site at www.darke.osu.edu or the OSU Extension
Darke County Facebook page.
Download the flyer here
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