MSU to offer fumigant trainings Dec. 18 and Dec. 19

From MSU News Service

BOZEMAN — Montana State University’s Pesticide Education Program will offer two trainings to assist applicators in effectively managing pests with phosphine fumigants while using the fumigants safely.

Phosphine gas applicators may attend the fumigant training sessions Dec. 18 in Havre or Dec. 19 in Miles City. The half-day sessions will focus on managing rodents with fumigants and managing insects in agricultural structures. Presenters are Stephen Vantassel, Montana Department of Agriculture vertebrate pest specialist, and Cecil Tharp, MSU pesticide education specialist.

Human fatalities prompted the EPA and product registrants to implement new phosphine fumigant restrictions since 2010, according to Tharp. The new restrictions include prohibiting all uses of the product on single- and multi-family residential properties, nursing homes, schools — except athletic fields — day care facilities and hospitals; increasing buffer zones to 100 feet for treatment around nonresidential buildings that could be occupied by people or animals; completing a fumigant management plan prior to the application; and more. Though reduced, Tharp said, deaths still have occurred in recent years, including one adult in Utah in 2018 and four children in Texas in 2017.

Examples of some common products containing aluminum or magnesium phosphide include Fumi-cel, Fumitoxin, Magtoxin, Phostoxin and Weevil-Cide, Tharp said.

The Dec. 18 training in Havre will be held at the Northern Agricultural Research Center, located at 3710 Assiniboine Rd. Cost is $30.

The Dec. 19 training in Miles City will be held at the USDA-ARS-PA Livestock and Range Research Laboratory, located at 243 Fort Keogh Rd. Cost is $30.

Registration for both trainings is required by Dec. 12. Participants may register online at http://www.pesticides.montana.edu/event.html or by contacting Amy Bowser at 406-994-5178 or [email protected].

A detailed program agenda is available online at http://pesticides.montana.edu/ under “2018 Fumigation Training Tour.” For more information, contact Tharp at 406-994-5067 or [email protected].

The MSU Extension Pesticide Education Program is an educational program promoting the proper use of pesticides to protect public health and the environment. The program supports all applicators, businesses and homeowners by combining educational resources and knowledge from scientists, governmental agencies and the public.