Texas Pesticide Agricultural Applicator Continuing Education Courses

When pesticide applications become necessary for good turf management, it’s important to understand how the application equipment works and how to properly calibrate the equipment. This course will provide turf managers with an understanding of the most common types of equipment used for pesticide applications on turf and how to properly calibrate the equipment.

Aquatic ecosystems are extremely complex and fragile. This course covers the many aspects necessary for managing aquatic pests, from site evaluation and pest identification to pesticide application and treatment evaluation. Risk communication strategies are included, along with a variety of control methods in addition to aquatic pesticides.

Managing aquatic weeds revolves around proper plant identification. Tailoring management strategies to address specific aquatic plant life is only possible through accurate identification. This course teaches the basics of aquatic weed identification and the different approaches to aquatic plant management.

Pest management of ornamental plants involves multiple steps from growing a healthy plant that is more resistant to pest damage to correctly identifying the problem when present. This course will cover the most common pests of ornamental plants.

This course teaches agricultural pest managers in Texas how to identify and control interior and exterior pests that can damage various types of property, infect people, and affect one’s quality of life.

Managing weeds in a turf stand can be a tricky proposition. Often times the client fails to recognize that the presence of weeds in a turf stand is the result of poor turf, not the cause. This course will provide applicators with a working knowledge of weed biology, weed identification, and how herbicides work.

Turf responds best to consistent cultural practices including mowing, irrigating, and fertilizing. But as turf managers know, there is a right way and a wrong way to do these. This course covers the dos and don’ts of good cultural practices that will result in a healthy vigorous turf that will be enjoyed for years.

This course is catered to agricultural pesticide applicators in Texas who work in interior plant environments. It reviews subjects like Integrated Pest Management strategies for interiors, pesticide safety protocols, techniques for supporting indoor plant health, and more.

To effectively manage a mosquito population as part of an integrated pest management plan applicators must be familiar with mosquito physiology, the lifecycle of the mosquito, and various collection and surveillance methods for both adult mosquitoes and larvae. This course will talk about surveillance methods, mosquito anatomy, and touch on the diseases that are most commonly vectored by mosquitoes in the United States.

IPM of ornamental plants involves multiple steps; producing a healthy plant, correctly identifying the problem, recognizing that there will always be some pests and damage, and only using pesticides as a last resort. This course teaches the basics of pest and disease management for ornamental plants, and the different tools and techniques needed to successfully provide your clients with a healthy and attractive landscape.

As a turf manager, you’ll need to be more than someone who just applies pesticides. Good turf management requires the use of all the tools in the toolbox. This course will touch on the best practice cultural, mechanical, biological, and chemical controls for turf management.

This course discusses benefits and considerations for Texas pesticide applicators to consider when developing an agricultural integrated pest management (IPM) program. Topics include a variety of pest-management methods, such as mechanical and cultural control, sanitation, augmentation, and pesticide use.

This course is for agricultural pesticide applicators who want to become certified as commercial or public applicators of restricted-use pesticides for the control of natural areas. It outlines various invasive weeds in natural areas and how an applicator should go about treating natural areas with respect to wildlife and the environment.

Discover safe, effective, and economical pest control techniques in this course. You’ll learn how to manage pests that can cause property damage, infect or injure people, or affect the quality of life while minimizing risks to yourself, others, and the environment.

Texas pest control specialists who take this course will learn to identify and control the various pests that threaten landscape, turf, and interiorscape settings. Lessons explain how to manage vertebrate and invertebrate pests as well as weeds and plant pathogens.

Learn best practices for public and environmental safety in pesticide use with this course. Texas pest managers can protect against pesticide emergencies with safe and legal pesticide handling. Notify the public, post warning signs, prepare a management plan and make careful choices to minimize the threat of unintentional exposure.

The pesticide label is the main method of communication between a pesticide manufacturer and pesticide users. By law, pesticide users are required to comply with all instructions and use directions found on the pesticide product label.

Pesticide labels and safety data sheets (SDS) appear to contain much of the same information. While the label is the law, an SDS is not considered the law. As an applicator, it is important to understand the difference between a pesticide label and a safety data sheet and know what information can be found in each document. This course reviews the various parts of pesticide labels and safety data sheets to identify the similarities and differences.

Labels are increasing in complexity and depth of information. It is never suggested that anyone try to memorize a pesticide label. By reviewing parts of a label and recognizing label language and use, we hope that you feel more comfortable with the information on pesticide labels and feel confident in understanding the information the present.

When the pesticide label requires a respirator it’s important to know how to use a respirator safely. This course outlines the types of respirators available, proper fit, and inspection/maintenance requirements.

This course teaches pest managers in Texas how to recognize and minimize pesticide use hazards. From the signs of human exposure to the classification of pesticides based on toxicity, this course offers important tools to safeguard people, wildlife and the environment.

Pest management in right-of-way situations can be a challenge. The economic thresholds are different in right-of-way situations compared to either a landscape setting or an agricultural setting. This course provides an overview of pests common to rights-of-way, management solutions, a look at the equipment commonly used to treat rights-of-way, and a review of calibration steps for that equipment.

There are a variety of diseases, disorders, insects, and vertebrate pests that can cause problems in turfgrass. This course will give applicators and turf managers an overview of these common pests and strategies for their management.