These certification courses are offered through some 4-H clubs, vocational agriculture instructors, or Extension agents. Contact them for more information on the program and restrictions. Requirements include various posting and notification requirements, worker training and protection, decontamination emergency assistance, and label compliance. Contact your Extension office or state department of agriculture for details. Users of restricted-use pesticides are required to be certified to purchase and use these chemicals.
Extension agents offer training and certification examinations.
You will be investing a great deal of time and money in your operation, and you do not want to throw that away by failing to take seriously the safety and health hazards on your farm. Searching out and eliminating or minimizing hazards on your farm is the most important thing you can do. Proper training of all who work on your farm, including family members, is also very important. This document is Safety and Health for Beginning Farmers, a series of the Agricultural Engineering Department, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706.