Pesticide Regulations On AM Minnesota 4-10-15

Joseph Spitzmueller with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Fertilizer and Pesticide Regulatory unit will be my guest on AM Minnesota on Friday morning. Each spring I have Spitzmueller on the program. We talk about any changes pertaining to pesticide use or new regulations. It is nice to get the information out to the public, too. I am certain most do not realize the regulations farmers need to follow when using pesticides.

In the picture is a box that held 5 gallons of the restricted-use pesticide Atrazine. Before a farmer can purchase or apply a restricted-use pesticide like Atrazine, we have to have a private pesticide applicators license. That means every three years farmers take a class or pass a test. Many pesticides we use, such as Round-Up, are not restricted. The ones that are restricted, such as Atrazine, have been determined by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to present some special concern. Maybe they are more toxic, or cause some special concern to surface or groundwater. It is always informative talking with Spitzmueller so I hope you can tune in at 9:30 Friday morning. Catch past AM Minnesota episodes on our YouTube channel.