By Steve Tomasko, UW PAT Program Outreach Specialist.

Those of you who have been certified to apply pesticides a few times are old pros at this, but a reminder never hurts. Also, because of the pandemic, certification got a little strange last year. The following information all applies to commercial pesticide applicators.

If your certification was expiring this past year (2021), your certification was automatically extended to the end of the year: 12/31/2021. If you got certified in the past year for the first time using the temporary online certification exam, that too will expire on the last day of 2021.

So, who needs to get certified in 2022?

1. All people in the above two situations (your certification was automatically extended, or you took the temporary online exam).
2. Anyone needing to get certified for the first time.
3. Anyone whose certification expires in 2022.

To check when your certification expires look at your certification card you received from the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) or, look up your certification status on the following website: http://www.kellysolutions.com/WI/Applicators/index.asp

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the certification process will be going back to “normal.” That is, to get certified (or recertified), you must do the following:

• You must purchase a training fee from the Pesticide Applicator Training Program (PAT), which includes training materials. There is one exception to this. If you purchased the training materials in 2021 and passed the temporary online exam, you can use those materials to take another certification exam (see exam information below).
• After studying the training materials, you will have to pass the certification exam.