Ridgetown Campus extends free Integrated Pest Management Courses

Sep 07, 2016

Courses will continue until April 30, 2017

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

The University of Guelph’s Ridgetown Campus is extending its free offering of Integrated Pest Management Courses (IPM) until April 2017.

The IPM courses are mandatory for any farmers wanting to purchase or plant neonicotinoid-treated corn and soybean seeds.

The program covers corn and soybean pest identification, planting best management practices, the new regulatory requirements for Class 12 pesticides and practices to help ensure pollinator protection from neonic exposure.

Enroll

“Everyone in my classes has learned a great deal from this course through the variety of learning activities we use to support the material covered in the manual, and has furthered their understanding of the regulations relating to Class 12 pesticides,” said Bryan Brodie, a course instructor, in a Ridgetown release.

Regulations for farmers moving into the 2017 growing season include:

Starting August 31, 2016, only farmers with IPM training can perform a soil scouting pest assessment and prepare a pest assessment report.
Maintaining current records when seeds are ordered and planted and retaining those records for at least two years.

Courses can be taken as a half-day in-class program or online over two days. Course dates can be found at www.ipmcertified.ca.

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