Missouri Pesticide Licensing and Certification
About 5 of every 50 questions on a Missouri CORE practice exam come from this topic.
Sources checked
What to know
Under the Missouri Pesticide Use Act, as rewritten effective January 1, 2025, licenses go to individuals, not businesses. Anyone in the business of using any pesticide on the lands of another needs a certified commercial applicator's license, earned by passing the director's exam and backed by a surety bond or liability insurance that need not cover the crops or land being worked on; the license runs one year, or less if that coverage expires first. Noncommercial applicators use restricted use pesticides only on land they or their employer own or rent, and public operators are government employees with three-year licenses. Private applicators qualify through University of Missouri Extension training, its online course or an exam, for five years; under the statute, 16- and 17-year-old immediate family members can hold a provisional license that bars fumigants, aerial work, supervising and buying RUPs and converts at 18. Pesticide technicians apply within 45 days of hire and work from the same location as a certified commercial applicator in the same categories; hires are reported within 10 days. Noncertified RUP applicators need their own license, through training (one-year retraining) or the CORE exam (three years). Exams pass at 70 percent, results last 18 months, and applicants may not bring their own reference material. Commercial, noncommercial and public operator applicators recertify every three years and private applicators every five; a license not renewed within 60 days is cancelled. Veterinarians, physicians and lab researchers are exempt, and discipline follows inquiry and a chance for a hearing.
Where it comes from
- RSMo §§ 281.020, 281.035, 281.037, 281.038
- RSMo §§ 281.040, 281.045, 281.048, 281.050
- RSMo §§ 281.055, 281.060, 281.065, 281.075, 281.080
- 2 CSR 70-25.020, .050, .070, .080, .090, .100
- 2 CSR 70-25.153, .156
Try a practice question
A lawn care company asks the Missouri Department of Agriculture to issue a commercial applicator license in the company's name. Under 2 CSR 70-25.020, to whom are licenses under the Missouri Pesticide Use Act issued?
- ATo each business location the company operates
- BTo individuals, not to business entities
- CTo the business entity that employs the applicators
- DTo the company owner on behalf of all employees
Show the answer
To individuals, not to business entities. The rule says licenses under the Act go to the individual, not to business entities, so each person who needs a license holds it personally.
2 CSR 70-25.020(1)