You may have noticed that the pesticide licensing fees increased this year. For some background as to why this increase was necessary, we turned to Brad Beaver, Bureau Chief of Environmental Programs at the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

According to Brad, the IDOA pesticide programs are predominately self-funded. As such, the fees do need to be adjusted periodically to meet programmatic needs. Brad recalls that the last fee adjustment occurred 10-15 years ago. So, it’s been a while. Keep in mind that although the department switched from 1-year to 3-year licenses a few years ago, the fee did not change then. Brad went on to say that all monies collected from the fee adjustments go directly into the Pesticide Control Fund. This fund is the primary source of funding for all IDOA pesticide programs. Note that no money from the fee adjustment goes into the general revenue fund. 

Pesticide Program Fee Adjustments - Effective 1/1/24

• Product Registration - (2 year)

  • Company Fee (2 year) - $1,000
  • Product Fee (2 year) - $800

• Pesticide Licensing - (3 year)

  • Commercial Applicator - $240
  • Commercial Operator - $180
  • Commercial Not for Hire Applicator - $120
  • Commercial Not for Hire Operator - $90
  • Private Applicator - $60
  • Dealer - $350

• Pesticide Containment Permit

  • Agrichemical - $250
  • LawnCare - $250

Please note that any fees associated with training provided by the University of Illinois Pesticide Safety Education Program are separate from IDOA’s required licensing fees. It is free to take pesticide licensing exams in-person. There is a charge associated with taking exams online, which is paid directly to the proctoring service, ProctorU, at the time of scheduling.

Do you have questions about licensing? Please contact the Illinois Department of Agriculture at 800-641-3934.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michelle Wiesbrook provides subject matter expertise and training in pesticide safety with an emphasis on horticultural weed science. She serves as the Illinois Pesticide Review newsletter editor, collecting and organizing material; and co-coordinates social media information for the PSEP program and ensures its timely publication. Her other interests include herbicide injury and invasive species.