2020 Private Pesticide Applicator Trainings

Private Applicator — A licensed applicator who uses any restricted use pesticide (RUP) for purposes of producing any agricultural commodity on property owned or rented by him/her or his/her employer, or to apply on the property of another person without compensation (other than trading of personal services between producers of agricultural commodities).

Private Applicator Recertification - Private applicators whose licenses are due to expire 4/15/2020 will receive a reminder letter from NDA in mid-December. It is important to bring that letter with you to your training meeting. Applicators who do not bring this letter will be required to  to fill out additional paperwork. The cost of this program is $40 for program attendance plus an additional $25 for the NDA license to be paid at a later date.

Private applicator training meetings can be found at pested.unl.edu – look for “Certification and Training” in the top header.

  • Private Applicator Training Dates - State Wide List - (View the Private PSEP schedule of dates for certification/recertification training - sort by clicking on county, date, time, etc., on the black bar at the top of the schedule)
  • Online private self-study program *UPDATED* - This online training contains multiple modules consisting of videos, activities, reading and quizzes.  A score of 100% must be achieved at the end of each module before moving to the next module.  Once all the modules are completed, a certificate will be emailed to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, with your NDA recertification form.  Additional materials on licensing will then be sent.  The cost of this option is $75, and an additional $25 for the NDA license to be paid at a later date.

Certification Requirements for Private Applicators
See NDA’s Applicator Certification and Licensing page for more information.
Reminder: Please notify NDA when you have a change of address in order to receive pesticide recertification information from the UNL Pesticide Safety Education office prior to your license expiration - 402-471-2351.

Private Record Keeping Form (PDF 61 KB) - This form can be printed and used by private applicators to keep records of RUP and GUP applications.

Search for registered pesticides in Nebraska - NDA database of pesticides registered for use in Nebraska.

Reciprocal Certification with Nebraska - Persons who live outside of Nebraska may obtain a license from NDA if they hold valid credentials from a state, agency, or tribe that NDA has a reciprocal agreement with.

Nebraska Department of Agriculture Dicamba Webpage
The NDA Dicamba page includes information on label statement clarification, endangered species habitat information, temperature inversions and required applicator training.

Other Resources

Does the Worker Protection Standard Apply to Me?
If you work in agriculture, the answer is most likely YES! The Worker Protection Standard (WPS) is a federal law, similar to OSHA, intended to protect employees from hazards in the workplace. Specifically, WPS seeks to protect farmworkers from the potential dangers of pesticide exposure. It is a complex regulation that affects nearly everyone involved in agriculture. To find out if WPS applies to you, see the questionnaire, “Does the WPS apply to you?” In addition, Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative (PERC; pesticideresources.org) has a whole host of training materials for farmworkers, detasselers, pesticide applicators, crop advisors, etc. If you still have questions, see the NDA WPS page, or feel free to call at NDA (402-471-2351) to help guide you through your responsibilities and protections under WPS.


PERC now has a collection of WPS-related tools and resources on a thumb drive (available for $99.00 plus shipping). In places where you can’t rely on internet access, this data storage drive gets the job done. The thumb drives would make an excellent take-home reference for employers learning about the WPS. Included on the thumb drive (which can be ordered here):

  •  WPS Pesticide Safety Training Videos – All versions in HD quality, English and Spanish
  •  WPS Ag Employer Handbook – English and Spanish
  •  WPS Worker Training Flip Charts – English, Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese
  •  WPS Posters for “Central Posting” area – English, Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Karen
  •  WPS How-to-Comply Manual – English and Spanish
  •  WPS Respiratory Protection Guide – English and Spanish
  •  Training PowerPoints: Train the Trainer, Training for Handlers, Training for Workers, all available in English and Spanish
  •  WPS: A Manual for Trainers – English and Spanish