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Email: tgarner@pdsolutions.ca ☰

Drones or unmanned aerial vehicles are here and becoming more affordable all the time. Drones are now and in the future going to play a big role in IPM programs. Detecting weeds, insects and disease from the air with different kinds of technology using drones are becoming common place. Using drones for pictures, imaging and mapping will be part of an IPM program as well use for pesticide application with drones. From surveillance to analysis to application can all be done or coordinated with or from drones. Join Tim as he discusses drones and their impact in all forms of agriculture including golf courses, parks and farms.

This presentation will provide information on the public’s knowledge and misinformation with respect to pesticides and pesticide use in Canada as determined by ongoing surveys conducted by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency.  Knowing the key areas where the public may lack key information or have misinformation can help applicators anticipate questions or concerns and be prepared to have effective discussions. Information on the benefits of pesticide use in specific applicator classes and answers to concerns the public may have regarding pesticide use will be discussed. In addition, approaches to starting and maintaining effective conversations will also be discussed.

The Department of Environment has monitored the occurrence of pesticides in surface water and drinking water for a number of years at many sites throughout Alberta. This presentation discusses the results of this monitoring and the implications this has on the quality of the water in Alberta. In addition, limited monitoring on pesticide residues in rainwater and air are discussed.

This webinar discusses herbicide characteristics, soil types and environmental conditions that affect the leaching of herbicides. It focuses on herbicide solubility, persistence and adsorption and how these factors influence the leaching of herbicides. In addition, herbicide toxicity in water is discussed and its impact on aquatic life, terrestrial plants and human and animals.

Many pesticide applicators spend longs days and many days in a row combatting pests. With our short growing season in many parts of Canada it forces applicators to work hard, long and fast. Join Tim as he discusses the facts, causes, consequences, effects and signs of fatigue. Also will be discussed how to get a better sleep and what employers and employees can do to reduce fatigue and therefore reduce mistakes and accidents

This session is not meant to make you climatologists or TV forecasters. This session is meant to help you understand the drivers of air movement (applied at the work location) and to anticipate when that air movement may help you or hinder you in your efforts to get your treatment product through the air to your treatment target. Successful completion of this session, it will make your job easier and improve the percentage of product that makes it to the target. It will also reinforce your awareness of how critical this is to our industry.

You must take part 1 before taking part 2 This session is designed to help you apply the fundamentals of weather (from part 1) to 10 common application situations that we all face, but that are so localized that no public forecast could possibly alert you to them. It is meant to help you understand the movement of air and to anticipate when that air movement may help you or hinder you in your efforts to get your treatment product through the air to your treatment target (and more importantly, ONLY your treatment target).

This presentation reviews the re-evaluation status of glyphosate in Canada as conducted by Health Canada through the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA). It also includes the following, designation, studies and lawsuits and the implications for applicators: - the World Health Organization - International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) assignment of a hazard classification for glyphosate as "Probably carcinogenic to humans" - several studies reporting the presence of glyphosate in cereal products and in breast milk -lawsuits involving glyphosate causing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Lastly, the presentation summarizes the PMRA (and U.S.A. Environmental Protection Agency) evaluations of the potential hazards of the use of glyphosate for the applicator, bystanders and the environment.

Some pesticides can last a long time in the environment. Join Tim as he defines and gives examples of half-life, bioaccumulation and biomagnification. As pesticide applicators we need to be aware of the properties of the pesticides we are using and know how they breakdown and move in the environment. If we know the environmental impact of certain pesticides, we then adjust our IPM programs accordingly.

It is important to understand the hazards associated with handling pesticides. Many things that are common sense to an experienced applicator are overlooked when training new applicators. This seminar will look at developing a hazard assessment and rating the risks associated with handling pesticides.