Commercial Agriculture Blogs

The USDA recently rescinded a rule that required all private applicators (those who apply pesticides to their own land) to keep records of their restricted-use applications. The rescinded requirement appeared in the ...

In 2024, 241 pesticide misuse complaints were filed with the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Of those, 202 cases have been completed (reviewed and closed or an enforcement action taken) as of early April 2025. Of those completed cases, 103 were closed and no evidence of misuse was found....

Do you still need to obtain your Illinois pesticide applicator or operator license? Now that the in-person pesticide safety education clinics have concluded, you may be wondering what your options are for training and testing. See below to get you well on your way to becoming certified.Training...

There are several pesticide related bills being considered in the Illinois Senate and House currently. We’ve been told that action will need to be taken on many of these in the next couple of weeks if they are to become laws. Some have previous versions that were introduced in past years and will...

The following description has been endorsed by the Weed Science Society of America1: What is the Endangered Species Act (ESA)?The Endangered Species Act is a long-standing federal law, passed in 1973, requiring government agencies to ensure any actions they take do not jeopardize a...

This past month, the supreme court overturned Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) (1984) with the recent Loper Bright V. Raimondo (2024) decision. Chevron v. NRDC, also known as the Chevron deference, granted federal agencies leniency in interpreting ambiguous laws based on the idea...

Do you have a pesticide applicator license? If so, how old were you when you first obtained your license? Is it safe to assume that your first applicator license wasn’t as memorable or exciting as getting your first driver’s license? Both licenses come with a significant responsibility and a...