Missouri Pesticide Use and Records
About 5 of every 50 questions on a Missouri CORE practice exam come from this topic.
Sources checked
What to know
Missouri makes it unlawful to recommend, cause, use or supervise any pesticide use inconsistent with its labeling, to use cancelled or suspended products, to buy restricted use pesticides without a certified applicator license in the proper category or a dealer license, to imply that government will inspect the work, and to cheat on exams or help anyone evade recertification. A lower-than-label concentration is not misuse only for strictly agricultural purposes on the written request of the person served. Commercial applicators record every pesticide use; noncommercial applicators and public operators record restricted use pesticides. Records are completed within three business days, kept three years and copied for the director within ten days of a written request. They show the certified applicator and any technician, start and end times, area treated (not for indoor spot or crack and crevice work), EPA registration numbers, amounts, and outdoor temperature and wind, except structural and termite work within ten feet of a building. "Use" includes cleaning equipment and storing or disposing of containers, which must not injure people, crops or wildlife or pollute waterways. Damage statements are due within 30 days, or two weeks before 25 percent of a growing crop is harvested; not filing bars no lawsuit. MDA may issue stop orders, seek search warrants, assess civil penalties and restitution, and violations are misdemeanors. Supervisors are liable for noncertified RUP applicators and must give label access, check equipment daily and stay reachable. The Act preempts local ordinances, and following the rules does not end liability for damage.
Where it comes from
- RSMo §§ 281.020, 281.101, 281.085
- RSMo §§ 281.035, 281.050, 281.065
- RSMo §§ 281.060, 281.061, 281.070, 281.090, 281.105
- RSMo §§ 281.005, 281.120
- 2 CSR 70-25.010, .120, .153
Try a practice question
A crop consultant who never touches a sprayer tells a grower to apply an insecticide to a crop the label does not list. How does § 281.101 treat the consultant's advice?
- AAs lawful, because only the person who applies the product can violate the Act
- BAs lawful, if the grower signs a written request for the off-label use
- CAs unlawful only if the insecticide is a restricted use pesticide
- DAs unlawful, because recommending a use inconsistent with labeling is barred
Show the answer
As unlawful, because recommending a use inconsistent with labeling is barred. The Act makes it unlawful to recommend for use, cause to use, use or supervise the use of any pesticide inconsistent with its labeling, so advice alone can violate it.
RSMo § 281.101