In Maryland, farmers who apply nutrients (fertilizer, manure, compost) to at least 10 acres of land are required to have a nutrient applicator voucher. Farmers can also become certified to write their own nutrient management plans. Additionally, farmers who want to purchase and apply Restricted Use Pesticides must first become certified as a private pesticide applicator (from Beale 2019 “Understanding Licenses, Permits and Certifications for your Farm”in Beginning Farmer Success Guidebook).
All of the above certifications require regularly attending continuing education trainings and reporting those “Continuing Education Units” (CEUs) to the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
Due to the Covid-19 situation, UMD Extension has planned several options for you to obtain credits.
For nutrient management and pesticide applicator* CEUs,
- Option 1: Attend an online training at any one of the eleven virtual crop meetings planned from December through February. Please visit https://go.umd.edu/WinterAgMeetings to register and view the full agendas for each meeting.
- Option 2: Watch prerecorded online webinars at your own pace through our University of Maryland Pesticide Portal. You can pick and choose which webinars are of interest to you to obtain the needed credit hours. Complete the request form at https://go.umd.edu/pestandnutrient including your name and contact information. You will be asked to click on what training you are interested in and your certification number. You will then be directed to the video series. These are best watched on a tablet or laptop as there are questions embedded in each video.
Additionally, at-your-own-pace nutrient management planner CEUs are available from pre-recorded webinars by the UMD Ag Nutrient Management Program.
*Remember that pesticide applicator certification renewals are done online now at https://egov.maryland.gov/mda/pesticides.