“I am a farmer who gets a local contractor to carry out spraying for me. However, I usually spray a few nettles and docks as and when the need arises using my own knapsack. Do I need to register with the Department of Agriculture to be able to continue spraying?”
If you want to continue spraying, even if it’s only a few nettles and docks, you are required to register as a ‘‘professional user’’ (PU) since 26 November 2015.
The Sustainable Use Directive (SUD) requires that operators be registered as PUs of pesticides since the 26 November 2015. To do this, operators will need to have completed an approved pesticide course. Some farmers may have completed pesticide use training at some time during their lives, but they must have proof of this to back up such a claim. Failure to register can result in a €250 penalty and/or a penalty to your Basic Payment Scheme payment if you continue to apply pesticides either with a boom or knapsack sprayer without having registered.
Who should register?
Anyone who applies pesticides which are marked as ‘‘professional use’’ on the label, irrespective of the method of application or quantity applied must be registered. So if you apply, for example, Roundup using a knapsack sprayer or any product applied to grassland or a crop using a sprayer, you are obliged to register. Any farmer who buys sprays, but gets a contractor who is a registered PU to apply them on their behalf does not have to register. But if the farmer does some knapsack spraying himself/herself too, they must register. Farmers can register on line at http://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/sud/sudreg/. Amateur-use pesticides such as home garden products are not covered by the legislation.
Spraying qualifications
In order to register as a PU, you are required to have formal training in the safe use and application of pesticides. Experience alone is not sufficient. A farmer must have completed an approved pesticide course and a list of approved training providers are available on the Department of Agriculture SUD website.
Persons who have completed the pesticide application module as part of a Teagasc course (FETAC level 5 or 6) will meet the requirements for PU training. If you have completed a qualification that was awarded by Teagasc and are unsure as to whether it qualifies you as a PU, you can verify it by submitting a query form directly to Teagasc, which is available at http://www.teagasc.ie/training/courses/pesticide-training.asp.
€250 - Penalty for breach of registration requirement under SUD
Equivalent qualifications may also be recognised as meeting the requirements to register as a PU and the Department of Agriculture will determine if alternative qualifications meet requirements on a case-by-case basis. If you still need to do a training course, I understand that they can cost anything from €150 (if subsidised by a local merchant) up to €350 for a two-and-a-half-day course. Initially, a farmer had to do a separate course for a boom and knapsack sprayer, but now knapsack use has been incorporated into the boom sprayer course.
As of now, the process involves a single registration that lasts indefinitely and there is no obligation for ongoing training, but this could change in time.
Failure to register
Breaches of this registration requirement may be subject to a penalty of €250. All registered users will be given a specific individual PU number and this will be required from the end of this year as part of a cross-compliance inspection. If a farmer is found to be in breach of cross compliance through negligence, a penalty of 3% will normally apply, but this can be reduced to 1% or increased to 5% depending on the extent, severity and permanence of non-compliance.
If reoccurrence applies, the penalty will be multiplied by three to a limit of 15%. All sales of professional-use chemicals must be recorded by the seller, so Department inspectors will know that you purchased chemicals and you must then account for where and how these products were applied.
Who can purchase
pesticides?
Any herd or flock owner or registered PU can purchase professional use products. However, only registered PUs can apply these products since 26 November 2015. Farmers must keep a record of all sprays purchased and applied with the crop, rate and location of their use and have this available for inspection.
Testing of boom sprayers by 26 November
Another element of the SUD is a requirement that all agricultural sprayers with a boom width of more than 3m and all orchard sprayers must be tested. This must be done by 26 November 2016.
A list of certified test providers is available on the Department of Agriculture SUD website. A certificate and sticker will be provided for each sprayer which passes the test and this must remain with the sprayer even if it is sold. Sprayers used to apply pesticides will be checked to see whether they have a current test certificate as part of a cross-compliance inspection.
Protection
Sprayers must be tested every five years, but this will reduce to every three years after 2020. New sprayers will have to be tested at least once within five years of their purchase date and this too will reduce to three years after 2020.
The reasoning behind the registration and training of PUs is to help protect sprayer operators, consumers and bystanders and also to help protect our water.
Whether you use a boom or a knapsack sprayer, you should be registered as a "professional user" since November 2015.All boom sprayers greater than 3m in width must be tested before 26 November 2016.If you breach registration, you could get a €250 penalty and if you are found in breach of a cross-compliance inspection, you could be subject to a 1%, 3% or 5% penalty. Read more
To read the full Farm Law Focus, click here.
“I am a farmer who gets a local contractor to carry out spraying for me. However, I usually spray a few nettles and docks as and when the need arises using my own knapsack. Do I need to register with the Department of Agriculture to be able to continue spraying?”
If you want to continue spraying, even if it’s only a few nettles and docks, you are required to register as a ‘‘professional user’’ (PU) since 26 November 2015.
The Sustainable Use Directive (SUD) requires that operators be registered as PUs of pesticides since the 26 November 2015. To do this, operators will need to have completed an approved pesticide course. Some farmers may have completed pesticide use training at some time during their lives, but they must have proof of this to back up such a claim. Failure to register can result in a €250 penalty and/or a penalty to your Basic Payment Scheme payment if you continue to apply pesticides either with a boom or knapsack sprayer without having registered.
Who should register?
Anyone who applies pesticides which are marked as ‘‘professional use’’ on the label, irrespective of the method of application or quantity applied must be registered. So if you apply, for example, Roundup using a knapsack sprayer or any product applied to grassland or a crop using a sprayer, you are obliged to register. Any farmer who buys sprays, but gets a contractor who is a registered PU to apply them on their behalf does not have to register. But if the farmer does some knapsack spraying himself/herself too, they must register. Farmers can register on line at http://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/sud/sudreg/. Amateur-use pesticides such as home garden products are not covered by the legislation.
Spraying qualifications
In order to register as a PU, you are required to have formal training in the safe use and application of pesticides. Experience alone is not sufficient. A farmer must have completed an approved pesticide course and a list of approved training providers are available on the Department of Agriculture SUD website.
Persons who have completed the pesticide application module as part of a Teagasc course (FETAC level 5 or 6) will meet the requirements for PU training. If you have completed a qualification that was awarded by Teagasc and are unsure as to whether it qualifies you as a PU, you can verify it by submitting a query form directly to Teagasc, which is available at http://www.teagasc.ie/training/courses/pesticide-training.asp.
€250 - Penalty for breach of registration requirement under SUD
Equivalent qualifications may also be recognised as meeting the requirements to register as a PU and the Department of Agriculture will determine if alternative qualifications meet requirements on a case-by-case basis. If you still need to do a training course, I understand that they can cost anything from €150 (if subsidised by a local merchant) up to €350 for a two-and-a-half-day course. Initially, a farmer had to do a separate course for a boom and knapsack sprayer, but now knapsack use has been incorporated into the boom sprayer course.
As of now, the process involves a single registration that lasts indefinitely and there is no obligation for ongoing training, but this could change in time.
Failure to register
Breaches of this registration requirement may be subject to a penalty of €250. All registered users will be given a specific individual PU number and this will be required from the end of this year as part of a cross-compliance inspection. If a farmer is found to be in breach of cross compliance through negligence, a penalty of 3% will normally apply, but this can be reduced to 1% or increased to 5% depending on the extent, severity and permanence of non-compliance.
If reoccurrence applies, the penalty will be multiplied by three to a limit of 15%. All sales of professional-use chemicals must be recorded by the seller, so Department inspectors will know that you purchased chemicals and you must then account for where and how these products were applied.
Who can purchase
pesticides?
Any herd or flock owner or registered PU can purchase professional use products. However, only registered PUs can apply these products since 26 November 2015. Farmers must keep a record of all sprays purchased and applied with the crop, rate and location of their use and have this available for inspection.
Testing of boom sprayers by 26 November
Another element of the SUD is a requirement that all agricultural sprayers with a boom width of more than 3m and all orchard sprayers must be tested. This must be done by 26 November 2016.
A list of certified test providers is available on the Department of Agriculture SUD website. A certificate and sticker will be provided for each sprayer which passes the test and this must remain with the sprayer even if it is sold. Sprayers used to apply pesticides will be checked to see whether they have a current test certificate as part of a cross-compliance inspection.
Protection
Sprayers must be tested every five years, but this will reduce to every three years after 2020. New sprayers will have to be tested at least once within five years of their purchase date and this too will reduce to three years after 2020.
The reasoning behind the registration and training of PUs is to help protect sprayer operators, consumers and bystanders and also to help protect our water.
Whether you use a boom or a knapsack sprayer, you should be registered as a "professional user" since November 2015.All boom sprayers greater than 3m in width must be tested before 26 November 2016.If you breach registration, you could get a €250 penalty and if you are found in breach of a cross-compliance inspection, you could be subject to a 1%, 3% or 5% penalty. Read more
To read the full Farm Law Focus, click here.
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