Of the 8 remaining training opportunities for licensed operators to take the Field Crop exam and be upgraded to the definition of "certified commercial applicator" in order to apply dicamba to soybean in 2019, 4 are already filled to capacity.

 

Seats are filling up quickly for the training, so we highly recommend sending any of your operators who are planning on taking the field crop exam to one of the remaining training days still available. The list of the remaining field crop training classes along with the number of people currently registered as well as the capacity of the room is shown directly below.

 

Number registered/room capacity

 

Dec 20 Mt. Vernon - 153/150 FULL

Jan 8 Champaign - 400/400 FULL

Jan 16 Peoria - 350/350 FULL

Jan 18 Utica - 13/250

Jan 25 Carterville - 17/150

Jan 29 Peoria during IFCA Convention - register on-line at www.ifca.com/convention - 13/100

Feb 8 Jacksonville - 200/200 FULL

Feb 11 Champaign - 12/400

 

Just to reiterate, in order to be a licensed certified applicator in Illinois, you must pass both the general standards and field crop exams.  If you were not due to take your GS exam this year, but take and pass field crops, if you take the GS exam again this winter or anytime in the calendar year 2019 you can sync your testing schedule and then everything will be good for 3 years.  If you still had a few years left on your GS exam, IDA cannot issue a "credit" for the fee you paid for your operator license but when you pass the FC exam, they can upgrade you to a certified commercial applicator license for $60 (which is the difference between the cost of a 3-year operator license and a 3-year applicator license). Please feel free to call with questions or talk to the IDA staff who will be present to perform the testing at the clinics.  

 

To register call the Pesticide Safety Education Program at 800.644.2123 or go on-line at www.pesticidesafety.illinois.edu