What on earth is a pesticide certification…do you mean pesticide license? Well, my astute readers, you are correct, we often call them pesticide licenses…but pesticide certification is the better term. It’s what the EPA uses and it’s what we should use as well to not confuse this with a business license. I know, that’s a lot of words and we still don’t know Which Pesticide Certification Do I Need?
The first question to answer is “Do you use pesticides?” If the answer is yes, its possible you might need a certificate. We will discuss how to figure that out in just a second, but first, who even issues this certificate? That would be the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See they use license and certificate too, so we are not alone. Two paragraphs in and I STILL haven’t really helped you, we are almost there I promise.
Where Do I Find It?
To figure out if you need a certification, and if so what kind, your best bet will be to use our handy dandy publication we created that walks you through it. I suggest downloading the PDF as it has clickable links that will take you exactly where you need to go. Just answer the questions, thinking about how you use pesticides, where you use them, and it will take you to your certification category.
Your category page will tell you two very important things. First it will tell you all you need to GET your certification, that’s the front page. Second it will tell you how to KEEP your certification. If you follow this guide, it should get you to the certification you need and all the information about it.
Testing
You found your category, congratulations, now what do you need to do. You first need to STUDY, so find your manual, read it, study it and prepare yourself for the exam. Now you will need to take the exam. Each exam is different, and you have two options for taking your exam. You can schedule with your local county extension office, which is staffed with the hardest working and best people in the state!
If that doesn’t work you can also test online, at home or the office, any time you want. For more information about starting that process with FDACS and how to schedule your exam check out How to Get a Voucher and How to Schedule My Exam. If you are taking the Everblue exam check out this handy blog before you do. Remember these exams are recorded and carefully reviewed, so take the directions very seriously, much like you would your pesticide label.
Now that you have passed your exam you have decided you don’t EVER want to do that again. That is fine, check on page two of that Category Certification Page and it will tell you how many CEUs you might need. You can then search for CEUs and track your progress. Our office also offers online CEUs you can take at any time and we often do sales, so subscribe to the blog to get access to those.
You Made It!
There you have it, you can now determine IF you need a certification. You also should know WHICH certification you need and how to take that exam. You can renew via CEUs and know you can test just about anywhere. If you followed this blog you now know Which Pesticide Certification Do I Need?
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