Category: Blog Community

What’s New With The Florida Organo-Auxin Rule?

by Dr. Jason Ferrell and Dr. Brett Bultemeier

December 16, 2025

The Florida Organo-Auxin Rule (5E-2.033) has been in place for several decades. The purpose of this rule is to place additional restrictions and recordkeeping requirements on the use of auxin herbicides (such as 2,4-D, dicamba, and triclopyr) ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Blog Community, Crops, HOME LANDSCAPES, NATURAL RESOURCES, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Archived, Brett Bultemeier, FDACS, Herbicides, Jason Ferrell, Organo-auxin, Pesticide Information Office, Rules, Update

WPS Training

by Dr. Brett Bultemeier
December 16, 2025

WPS Are You Ready for 2021? The Worker Protection Standard (WPS) applies to farms and operations that produce agricultural plant products. It was designed to protect those employees/workers that might encounter pesticides as part of their ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Blog Community, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Archived, Brett Bultemeier, EPA, Pesticide Information Office, Pesticides, Safety, Worker Protection Standard, WPS

Pesticide Exposure: Types and Symptoms

by Dr. Brett Bultemeier
September 23, 2025

Pesticides are hazardous, they are designed to repel, kill, or otherwise disrupt the lifecycle of living organisms. Pesticides can be toxic and even poisonous. These are all true statements, but a hazard, by itself, is not necessarily a ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Agriculture, Blog Community, Farm Management, HOME LANDSCAPES, Horticulture, Lawn, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, Turf, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Archived, Brett Bultemeier, Pesticide Exposure, Pesticide Exposure Series, Pesticide Information Office, Risk, Symptoms

IPM: The Struggle in Defining a Strategy

by Bonnie Wells and Dr. Brett Bultemeier

August 11, 2025

If you are in the world of pesticides, you have likely heard of “IPM” Integrated Pest Management and probably have some sense of what it is. If you were asked to fully define it though, could you? Would your definition be outdated? Would ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Agriculture, Blog Community, Conservation, Crops, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, HOME LANDSCAPES, Horticulture, Invasive Species, Lawn, NATURAL RESOURCES, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, Turf, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Archived, Bonnie Wells, Brett Bultemeier, Brevard County, Chemicals, Integrated Pest Management, IPM, Management, Pesticide Information Office, Pesticides, PIO

What’s the Buzz on Bees?

by Amy Vu and Dr. Brett Bultemeier

June 24, 2025

Florida is known for many of its “Fresh from Florida” commodities such as citrus, tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries, watermelons, beans, and sweet corn, but what role do honey bees play in the production of these crops? Did you know that ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Blog Community, Conservation, Crops, Farm Management, HOME LANDSCAPES, Horticulture, Livestock, NATURAL RESOURCES, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Amy Vu, Archived, Bee, Brett Bultemeier, Honey Bee, Honey Bee Research And Extension Lab, Integrated Pest Management, Jamie Ellis, Pest Management, Pesticide Information Office, Pesticides, Pollinator Protection, Pollinator Week Cross Pollination, Pollinators, Sylvia Willis, UF Honey Bee Lab

Alone We Can Do So Little

by Dr. Brett Bultemeier
June 17, 2025

July is busy for the Pesticide Information Office. I will be on the road and out of the office for most of that month. The title of this blog comes from a Helen Keller quote, and the full quote is “Alone we can do so little; together we ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Blog Community, Invasive Species, NATURAL RESOURCES, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: AAPSE, APMS, Archived, Brett Bultemeier, Certification And Training, EPA, License, PACT, Pesticide Information Office

Pesticide Record Keeping

by Dr. Brett Bultemeier
May 27, 2025

Have you ever performed a pesticide treatment and had it fail? Ever had a customer or client ask what you did months ago, but now you can’t remember? Have you ever said the phrase “those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Blog Community, Farm Management, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Archived, Brett Bultemeier, Pesticide Information Office, Pesticide Record Keeping

Homemade Weed and Bug Killer

by Dr. Brett Bultemeier
May 13, 2025

The internet and social media abound with “Do it yourself” “Homemade” “Natural” weed killer and bug control articles. Many will promise that these mixes are easy, safe, and very effective. This blog will not discuss efficacy, but ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Blog Community, HOME LANDSCAPES, Lawn, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Archived, Brett Bultemeier, Homemade Pesticide, Pesticide, Pesticide Information Office

Mosquitos as a Pesticide?

by Dr. Brett Bultemeier
May 6, 2025

A pesticide is described as any substance that is used to kill, repel, or control a “pest”. Mosquitos are a pest that Floridians know very well. Around the world there are around 1,000,000 deaths each year from mosquito borne illness, ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Blog Community, HOME LANDSCAPES, NATURAL RESOURCES, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Aedes Aegypti, Archived, Brett Bultemeier, EPA, Genetically Modified Mosquito, Mosquito, Oxitec, Pesticide, Pesticide Information Office

Applicator Safety, More Than Just Pesticides

by Dr. Brett Bultemeier
April 29, 2025

One of the main tasks of the Pesticide Information Office, is to help teach pesticide safety, or applicator safety. Applicator safety involves more than just protecting from pesticide exposure. Safety does include understanding the label, PPE, ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Agriculture, Blog Community, Farm Management, HOME LANDSCAPES, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Archived, Brett Bultemeier, Heat Stress, Pesticide Information Office, Pesticide Safety, Safety

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