Sprayers which are more than five years old and have a boom width over 3m are required to have passed a pesticide application test.

Without having the test carried out, the sprayer should not be used to apply sprays to crops and grassland.

The sprayer should be tested once every five years up to 2020. After this, the sprayer will be required to be tested every three years.

The sprayer test will have to be completed by an approved pesticide equipment inspector.

A list of these is available on the sustainable use of pesticides directive website. The normal cost of completing a test varies from €150 to €200 and can take a few hours to complete.