As the 2026 pesticide applicator training season approaches, let’s look back on some highlights from our 2025 training season.

Timeline & training sessions

Our 2025 training season ran from January 1st, 2025 to June 12th, 2025.

During those 162 calendar days, the University of Wisconsin Pesticide Applicator Training (PAT) Program hosted:

• 19 Commercial Pesticide Applicator training sessions
• 53 Private Pesticide Applicator training sessions

Commercial Pesticide Applicator training sessions

In-person and virtual training sessions for Commercial Pesticide Applicators were hosted for the following categories:

• Field & Vegetable Crops (category 1.1)
• Forestry (category 2.0)
• Turf & Landscape (category 3.0)
• Aquatic & Mosquito (category 5.0)
• Rights-of-Way & Natural Areas (category 6.0)
• Structural Pest Control (category 7.1)

Private Pesticide Applicator training sessions

Training sessions for Private Pesticide Applicators were hosted in the following categories:

• General Farming (category 100)
• Fruit Crops (category 112)

Training sessions for Private Pesticide Applicators were a collaborative effort of:

• 36 county Extension staff
• 15 regional Extension educators
• 3 PAT Program specialists

This statewide collaboration of county and allowed us to reach 1,083 Private Pesticide Applicator in 2025.

Certification exams

Certification exams for Private Pesticide Applicator were offered in 54 counties throughout Wisconsin allowing an additional 288 Private Pesticide Applicators to become certified. This would not be possible without the help of local county Extension office staff and educators. 

Training material distribution

The PAT Program distributed a total of 8,750 training manuals and self-paced online training courses.

• 6,990 training materials for Commercial Pesticide Applicators
• 1,760 training materials Private Pesticide Applicators

A total of 1,675 applicators in Wisconsin were trained through in-person and virtual training opportunities.

More information about the PAT Program

To learn more about the University of Wisconsin-Madison Pesticide Applicator Training (PAT) Program and the 2025 training season data, download and read our 2025 PAT Report (.pdf)* or download and read our 2025 PAT Report (.txt).

* pdf resources are intended to be downloaded and printed locally.

More information on pesticide application training session dates, locations, and registration can be found on the UW-Madison Pesticide Application Training Website.

Contact

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