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Pesticide Safety for Farmer Assistants

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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.

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