12-6 NWR Pesticide Changes

12-6 NWR Pesticide Changes

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
This is your Northwest report for Tuesday, December 6, I'm David Sparks and Northwest farmers and ranchers using pesticides of any sort take note because starting Jan. 2, 2017, agricultural workers and pesticide handlers that work on agricultural establishments must be trained annually about pesticide safety and the Worker Protection Standard (WPS). Workers and handlers must be trained before they begin worker/handler tasks, EPA-approved training materials must be used, and trainers must be qualified.

Any certified applicator or agricultural employer is qualified to train workers, and EPA-approved training materials for workers are available online. Trainers without applicator certification/licensing must complete an EPA-approved "Train-the-Trainer" course in order to be qualified to train handlers.

American dairy exports quadrupled from 2004 to 2014, and UDSA economists have been looking into what caused this significant growth. Some of the factors behind the growth in US dairy exports are increased dairy consumption in developing countries, worldwide changes in government policies and more open trade. USDA dairy economist Jerry Cessna: "The ability of the US to increase the exports is going to depend on the ability of the US producers to remain cost competitive with the foreign suppliers and it will also depend on the government policies around the globe and whether trade will be open or not."

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