CA Pesticide Applicator case studies
CA Pesticide Applicator · Put your knowledge to work in context.
California issues a family of pesticide credentials rather than one license. The Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) and county agricultural commissioners administer private applicator certification, commercial applicator licensing, agricultural pest control adviser (PCA) licensing, and pest control dealer licensing. The CA Pesticide Applicator case studies are 5 cases and about 3,923 words.
1Expired Certificate, No Permit, School Next Door
on a Tuesday in September, a county agricultural commissioner's inspector drives past a 40-acre walnut orchard and sees a ground rig spraying a 12-row block. The treated block's eastern edge is about 600 feet from an elementary school playground, and school is in session.
804 words, about 4 min2Three Documents, Three Different Answers
On August 12 a PCA writes a recommendation for lygus bug on 18 acres of strawberries to be harvested August 17. The applicator has three documents in the truck.
807 words, about 4 min3Crew Sick Thirty Hours After the Sprayer Left
on a Thursday, a crew of nine workers begins hand-thinning peaches in a block that was treated 30 hours earlier with an organophosphate insecticide. The label requires a 14-day restricted entry interval and posted warning signs at each entrance.
728 words, about 4 min4Mites, a Worn Sprayer, and an Organic Neighbor
On July 20 a PCA samples a 60-acre almond orchard and finds two-spotted spider mites on 40% of leaves in the sample, with predatory mites on about 15% of leaves. The orchard has received three pyrethroid applications in the previous 18 months, and the grower reports that the last one "did almost nothing." A neighboring 20-acre certified organic vegetable farm lies 1/4 mile downwind, and the neighbor's honey bee hives sit at the shared fence.
785 words, about 4 min5A Split Jug Sixty Feet From the Well
a solo applicator is mixing a pyrethroid concentrate into a 300-gallon tank on a gravel-and-soil pad at the edge of a tomato field. A 2.5-gallon jug slips off the tailgate and splits, releasing about 1.5 gallons of concentrate onto the pad.
799 words, about 4 min