Pesticide Safety Education Program

(PSEP)

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

OUR WEB SITE: http://www.pested.msu.edu/

 

 

 

 

 

Final Report (Oct 2004 to September 2005)

to the

Michigan Department of Agriculture, Pesticide Section

and the MDA Pesticide Advisory Committee

and Bruce Wilkinson of EPA Region 5

 

 

 

Submitted by the MSU Pesticide Safety and Education Program, Oct 2005

Dr. Carolyn Randall – Coordinator (100%)

Dr. Christina DiFonzo (5%)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Objective:

The MSU Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP) works with the Michigan Department of Agriculture Pesticide Section to carry out applicator certification and training. As its part of a Memorandum of Understanding, the Program conducts training and education in seven major areas. Each quarter, the Pesticide Safety Education Program reports its activities to the Pesticide Advisory Committee (PAC), and provides a final report to MDA at the end of the fiscal year. Below is a summary of program accomplishments – based on the major points in the Memorandum of Understanding – for the 2004 fiscal year.

1) Develop and revise applicator training manuals, and provide exam questions.

 

Manuals Completed: 

·        National Pesticide Applicator Certification Core manual. Published by the EPA, this manual will be made available to all states and territories.  Carolyn Randall is the main writer of the manual.  The manual may be used with the National Core Exam.  A Power Point presentation based on the manual produced by Washington State PSEP can be used as a training tool.  EPA also plans to translate the manual and Power Point presentation into Spanish.  MSU PSEP plans to adapt the manual and make it specific to Michigan.  Two versions will be produced—a private core and a commercial core.  They will replace Michigan’s current Core manual, E-2195.

 

·        Regulatory Pest Management, E-2055.  The Category 9 manual, prepared by Erica Jenkins and Carolyn Randall, is completed and a pool of 105 exams questions was submitted to MDA.  It will not be printed by the MSU Bulletin Office since so few copies sell each year.  It will be available as a pdf download from the MSU PSEP website and from the Bulletin Office website.

 

Manuals in progress:

·        Aquatic Pest Management, E-2035.  Major revisions were made to the Category 5 manual particularly to Chapter 1 on Laws and Regulations. Staff from MDEQ reviewed the proposed changes and supplied new permit forms for the appendices.  These changes have been submitted to ANR communications for lay-out.  The manual needs to be reprinted due to low inventory.

 

·        Ornamental Pest Management, E-2291.  Significant progress was made to the Category 3B manual thanks to the help of temporary labor staff, Sandra Perry and Diane Brown-Rytlewski.  Diane completed a draft of the manual during the summer before accepting a new position at the University.  Carolyn plans to review the draft and add learning objectives and review questions.

 

·        Microbial Pest Management, E-2621.  Chapters 1, 2 and 3 and 7 have been reviewed by industry reps and are completed.  Further work is needed on Chapters 4, 5, and 6.  This manual will be given the first priority for the next quarter.

 

·        Aerial Standard, E-2019.  An undergraduate student in MSU’s Professional Writing Program, Adam Clegg, was hired as an intern over the summer to work on the aerial standard manual.  The student completed a draft of the manual.  It was a difficult subject for the student to take on and further work is needed on it.  The student was evaluated and received a grade for his internship.

 

·        Public Health Pest Management, E-2049.  An undergraduate student in MSU’s Professional Writing Program, Robert Reyes, was hired as an intern over the summer to work on the Category 8 manual.  The student completed a draft of the manual, however, further work is needed such as adding learning objectives and review questions.  The student was evaluated and received a grade for his internship.

 

Exams Completed:

·        Core exam – 40 new test questions were written for Part A of the core manual and 63 new test questions (including 5 new figures) were written for Part B.

 

·        Regulatory – A pool of 105 test questions along with 14 figures was submitted to MDA in order to construct the new regulatory exam to go with the new manual.

 

2) Monitor and maintain stocks of bulletins in the MSU system.

MSU PSEP monitors manual stocks and arranges for reprinting of current bulletins as needed. Often this provides an opportunity to make minor corrections and changes. In FY 2004, the following bulletins were reprinted with minor or no revision:

 

·        Pesticide Applicator Core Training Manual, E-2195:  5,000 copies reprinted due to low inventory.

 

·        Category 5B, Microbial Pest Management, E-2435: 150 copies reprinted due to low inventory.

 

3)  Develop other pesticide-related materials as requested and needed.

 

·        Pesticide Emergency Information, AM37 – This bulletin was revised twice in FY 2004. Five-hundred copies were printed in October 2004 and another 500 were printed in June 2005.

 

·        Spanish Pesticide Emergency Information, AM37SP – This translated bulletin was finally updated (last update in year 2002) with the help of student intern Roberto Reyes and Antonio Escobar from MDA.  Two-hundred and fifty copies were printed in July 2005.  Mark Hansen of MSU plans to post the bulletin in the Spanish section of the Emergency Management Website.

 

·        Website development – Several improvements and updates were made to the Pesticide Safety Education Website including posting new bulletins and slide sets, updating links, and updating the PSEP logo to include the word “Safety.”  About 40 web pages were updated.  New pages were also added to the site including the new Library Resources web page.  Some other new posts included a script to Chapter 2 Part B of the Core manual, the 2005-2006 Certification Exam Schedule from MDA, a site where members of the National Core Manual Committee could download updated versions of the manuscript. The website was also reorganized somewhat with changes being made to URL addresses.

 

·        Newsletter – Christina DiFonzo sent out electronic versions of the Pesticide Notes Newsletter in November and December.  The December issue contained important information on the seminar credit policy from MDA and how to write an agenda for credits. 

 

·        Pesticide Education Resource Library—Chris DiFonzo and Carolyn Randall worked with students Jessie Kolp and Allison Landis to develop a resource library of pesticide education materials including books, video tapes, CD’s, demonstration materials, and slide sets that Extension agents can use for pesticide education training.  The database of materials was posted on the PSEP web site.  Agents must visit the Pesticide Safety Education office to check out materials.

 

·        Entomology 477 CD – To assist field crop Extension agents with pesticide training, each agent was provided with a CD will all of the pesticide-related lectures from Chris DiFonzo’s class, ENT 477.  The CD contained approximately 30 lectures on topics ranging from pesticide types, modes of action, regulations, and issues.

 

·        Spray Table – Michigan PSEP received a Spray Table Demonstration Kit that was supported by a grant from USDA and co-directed by Bob Wolf, Kansas State University and Monte Johnson, CSREES. Fourteen demonstration kits were distributed to selected PSEP Coordinators in Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Texas, Montana, Clemson, Delaware, New York, Utah, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota. They may be used for hands-on training activities to demonstrate technology, pattern quality, and drift tendencies for spray nozzles. The kit includes a self-enclosed table with pump, a two-section boom with three nozzle body assemblies, dual pressure controls, and a pattern collector. A variety of spray nozzles are included along with special accent lighting to help emphasize the spray nozzle characteristics. A fan is included to demonstrate drift. The tables were made by Ledebuhr Industries of Bath, Michigan.

 

·        Training slide set – The slide set Pesticide Storage and Handling originally produced by Larry Olsen and Bruce Wilkinson at MSU was updated and converted to a Power Point presentation and posted on the PSEP Web site for download by Extension agents for use in training.

 

·        Michigan State Fair – Carolyn printed 4,000 copies of color activity pages and 15,000 “Be Cool – Don’t mess with Pesticides” stickers for children visiting the MDA Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division booth at the Michigan State Fair.  Carolyn also assisted MDA in obtaining the materials for constructing the booth.

 

4)  Oversee the Registered Technician Program

·        Three checks came in for Approved Trainer study guides.  The checks were returned along with an explanation that the guide can be downloaded for free from the PSEP website.

 

5)  Host Inservice programs.

·        MAAA 2004 – The 2004 Michigan Agricultural Aviators Association Conference was held October 13-14 at the Lees Inn in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  Carolyn Randall invited the speakers and moderated the program.  On October 13, Polly Kapala from MDA lead a label scenarios exercise and Brian Rowe from MDA gave the legislative update.  Representatives from Detroit and Grand Rapids FAA FSDO were also present to give their updates.  The special guest speaker was Dr. Bob Mickle, Executive Director of SERG (Spray Efficacy Resource Group) International and REMSpc Spray Consultants who spoke on “Utilizing in-situ Meteorology to Optimize Aerial Forest Treatments.”  Sandy Perry form the Department of Plant Pathology spoke on soybean rust, and Bill Hatfield from Hatfield Spraying Service spoke on Walther engines.  The PAASS (Professional Aerial Applicators Support System) was held again this year on the morning of the 14th.  Follow up evaluations indicated the ag. aviators were very pleased with the program.

 

·        MAAA 2005 – A meeting was held with Michigan Agricultural Aviators Association on March 24 to plan their annual conference on October 18-19.  Carolyn Randall from MSUE and Polly Kapala from MDA were present along with six MAAA members.   This year the conference will be held in a new location—the Comfort Inn in Okemos.  The PAASS program will be presented again on the morning of the 19th.

 

6) Participate in other programs and events as needed.

·        ENT 477 - Chris DiFonzo taught ENT 477, Pesticides in Management Systems.  This course covers pesticide classes, modes of action, regulations, registrations, health and environmental impacts, and residues. All lectures are in Power Point, and they can be shared with interested parties by contacting Chris.

 

·        Web Portal Training – Carolyn Randall and Chris DiFonzo attended the “Web Portal Training” on March 9.  The training covered web page delivery and using work groups on MSUE’s new system.

 

·        Ag Expo – MSU PSEP materials and information was handed out at the Department of Entomology booth at Ag Expo on July 20, 2005.

 

7) Serve on university, state, and national committees, and attend conferences, related to pesticide issues.

·        National Core Manual Committee – Carolyn served as Co-chair of the National Core Manual Committee throughout the fiscal year until the project completion in August 2005.  This involved participation in numerous conference calls and traveling to the EPA OPP office in Arlington, Virginia on June 6-9, 2005.

 

·        November Pre-SFIREG - Carolyn attended the EPA pre-SFIREG in Chicago on November 16-17, 2004.  An Extension breakout session was held where PSEP funding and PPRS reporting issues were discussed.

 

·        May pre-SFIREG – Carolyn attended the pre-SFIREG meeting in Chicago on May 17-18, 2005.

 

·        National Workshop – Carolyn attended the National Pesticide Applicator Certification and Safety Education Workshop in Madison, Wisconsin on August 15 through 18.  A display table featuring MSU PSEP materials was set up at the conference.  Carolyn was awarded a plaque from EPA for her work on the national core manual at the final conference luncheon.

 

·        MABA Pesticide Committee – Chris DiFonzo served on the MABA Pesticide Committee.

 

·        Regulation 637 Rulemaking committee – Carolyn has been participating in the Regulation 637 Rulemaking committee since April 2005.