Wisconsin farms that conduct their own pest management control practices need to be certified through the Pesticide Applicator Training (PAT) process to purchase or apply restricted-use-pesticides. The process for ordering the PAT manual and registering for a training/test session has undergone significant changes. Anyone wanting to re-certify or become certified must visit the PAT website to get started in the process.
Go to https://patstore.wisc.edu and click on the Private Applicator button, then the appropriate category. For most farms, this will be 100/101 General Farming, but some will select Fruit Crops or Greenhouse/Nursery. This will allow you to order the manual ($43), but you also need to register and pay ($10) to attend one of the local training sessions if you want to certify via one of those events. Go into the Training Classes tab and scroll down to find the host county of the site/date you want to attend, select it and make sure it gets added to your ‘cart’ prior to paying. A farm can register multiple persons at once, if pertinent.
Training sessions begin at 9 a.m. and are completed by 1 p.m., with the test conducted immediately thereafter. Regional UW-Madison, Div. of Extension Crops/Soils Educator Scott Reuss will moderate the in-person sessions.
It is very important to note that on-site registration is not allowed. You must pre-register through the process noted above. If you do not have computer access, you can request a paper order/registration form from the Marinette, Langlade, or Shawano County Extension Offices. However, you must do so at least two full weeks ahead of the program date which you want to attend.
