Farmer Assistants who use Class B or C pesticides on farms must be trained.
Certified
Farmers are responsible for all pesticide use and handling on their farms
including the use and handling of Class B or C pesticides by Farmer Assistants
supervised by Certified Farmers. Farmer Assistants
could be family members, farm employees or seasonal workers.
Farmer Assistants
must:
- Be 16 years of age or older
- Work on a farm under the supervision of a Certified Farmer
- have basic pesticide safety training recognized by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks before they handle or use Class 2 or 3 pesticides
- re-train every 5 years.
There
are two ways for Farmer Assistants to get the training they need. They can:
- participate in a Grower Pesticide
Safety Course (no test required), or
- participate in a training session
presented by an On-Farm Instructor.
On-Farm Instructors
The
Ontario Pesticide Education Program offers half day sessions (fee of $65) for
Certified Farmers to qualify to train Farmer Assistants. At the session, each On-Farm Instructor receives
a kit of training supplies, and learns how and what to teach Farmer Assistants. On-Farm Instructors document their training
of each Farmer Assistant by completing a “Record of Training” and registering
each Farmer Assistant with the Ontario Pesticide Education Program (a $25 fee). Training is valid for five years.
Spanish Speaking
On-Farm Instructors
Spanish
speaking On-Farm Instructors are available for hire to train Farmer Assistants. Call 1-800-652-8573
or email us at rcopep@uoguelph.ca
for a list of available Spanish speaking On-Farm Instructors.