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Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation

Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application on trees, shrubs, lawns, or crops. Usually requires specific training and state or federal certification.

What you’d do

  • Fill sprayer tanks with water and chemicals, according to formulas.
  • Record information about pesticide applications, such as the type used and amount applied.
  • Mix pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides for application to trees, shrubs, lawns, or botanical crops.
  • Start motors and engage machinery, such as sprayer agitators or pumps or portable spray equipment.
  • Lift, push, and swing nozzles, hoses, and tubes to direct spray over designated areas.
  • Establish driving routes for pesticide applications.
  • Clean or service machinery to ensure operating efficiency, using water, gasoline, lubricants, or hand tools.
  • Connect hoses and nozzles selected according to terrain, distribution pattern requirements, types of infestations, and velocities.

Skills that matter

  • Operations Monitoring
  • Time Management
  • Active Listening
  • Critical Thinking
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Operation and Control

How to get there

Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

Also called

  • Applicator
  • Chemical Applicator
  • Pesticide Applicator
  • Spray Technician (Spray Tech)
  • Herbicide Applicator
  • IPM Technician (Integrated Pest Management Technician)

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