Our senior plant health adviser, Emma Hamer, explains why farmers aged over 51 must become a certificated sprayer operator.
She writes:
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This is when the long relied-upon Grandfather Rights finally come to an end. But what exactly are Grandfather Rights? Up until now these rights have allowed older, more experienced farmers to spray chemicals on their crops without having any training, as it was thought they had the knowledge to carry out these activities competently.
In July 2012 the Sustainable Use Directive came into force - a piece of European legislation which sets legally binding standards for pesticides which have put an end to Grandfather Rights. So anyone applying professional pesticides from 26 November onwards must hold a recognised certificate, even if they were born before 31 December 1964.
The rules are actually there for a reason. We don’t want pesticides to get into watercourses so if sprayer operators work to the highest standards and keep pesticides out of water, it will protect drinking water supplies. To be honest, the vast majority of farmers who need to spray plant protection products on their crops on a regular basis are now fully trained up and have been for a number of years. Crops are a huge investment so farmers want to make sure that they are doing the job right. There may be some farmers out there who rely on fully trained family members or contractors to do the job for them. But not any longer! It’s time for them to hang up their spray suits and neoprene gloves and hand the job over to someone else.
There will be some farmers aged 51 and over who want to carry on spraying. Of course, that’s fine. Training providers have recognised this need and have put together a course specifically aimed for those who are losing their rights. It’s broken down into bite-sized modules which can be taken if they’re relevant to you and your business. Details can be found here.
Infrequent sprayers might be mixed or livestock farmers who occasionally want to spray off some grassland weeds, or tidy up the farmyard. These are the ones who need to take the course or hang up their overalls and employ someone else instead.