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Agriculture in the new yearBy Randy Buhler CSU Cooperative Extension Agent, agronomy, Logan County Colorado Welcome to the new year, which promises to be eventful, exciting and eventually historic. Many changes are in progress that should come to fruition. Agriculture, in particular, should look for many changes to happen in how we do business, the products we use, and the procedures and processes we incorporate into our business for the future. One of the changes we are witnessing is the end of the Environmental Protection Agency issuing licenses for private applicators. Currently, valid licenses are good until the date marked on the license. After that date, private applicators will need to take the test and apply for a Colorado Department of Agriculture license in order to purchase and use Restricted Use Pesticide labeled products in Colorado. Anyone treating his or her rangeland for prairie dog control will need to have a valid private pesticide applicator license. The EPA blue cards will expire over the next two years. Some of you, about 1,000 statewide, have already earned the Colorado Department of Ag license. Those who have this license need to earn Continuing Education Credits or retest when the current license expires. Private applicators can earn CEC at any agriculture related program approved for the required credits. The new program requires two credits for laws and regulations, one credit for Pesticides and their Families, one credit for Applicator Safety, one credit for Public Safety, one credit for Environmental Protection and one credit for Use of Pesticides. For those who are involved with prairie dog control, we will have a program on Jan. 30, at the Gary DeSoto Building in Sterling, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Lunch is included, courtesy of LiphaTech and DuPont. The timing should allow those who are monitoring calving to attend. The program covers the use of the new products for prairie dog control and specific weed management products for rehabilitating rangeland damaged by prairie dogs. Those who have the new Colorado Department of Ag Private Pesticide Applicator license can earn CEC towards their renewal license. Those who still have a valid EPA blue card can learn valuable information about getting the most value from use of these new products. Those few individuals with Colorado Commercial Applicator Licenses can earn renewal CEC. So far, we are approved for credits for Use of Pesticides and Applicator Safety. We are trying to get approval for the Category 302 (Outdoor Vertebrate Control). Please call the Extension office at 970-522-3200, extension 273, and let Sally know you plan to attend the program at the Gary DeSoto building on Jan. 30. Your RSVP will let the cooks from the Logan 4-H Foundation know how many of their famous soup and sandwich lunches to prepare. For those who cannot attend this meeting, a prairie dog control meeting will be held at the Ft. Morgan Events Center on Jan. 23 between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Call Bruce Bosley at 970-522-3200, extension 285, to register for this meeting. For those needing a private applicator license from the Department of Agriculture, several sessions are scheduled for the region. At these sessions, a program is presented about the important points and then the tests are provided. This saves you from calling to Denver to get a copy of the test materials and then wading through the material and taking the test on your own. Under the new program, each test is a unique test with different questions. Testing programs schedule: Jan. 10--Phillips County Extension Office, Holyoke, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Call 970-854-3616 for information. Jan. 17--Sedgwick County Extension Office, Julesburg, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Call 970-474-3479 for information. Jan. 31--Morgan County Extension Office, Ft. Morgan, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Call Bruce Bosley at 970-522-3200, ext. 285 for information. Feb. 7--Logan County Extension Office, Sterling, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Call Bruce Bosley 970-522-3200, Ext. 285 for information. 1/21/08 Date: 1/16/08
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