IOWA AERIAL APPLICATORS COMPREHENSIVE EXAMS
2025/2026 QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
✔✔C1: Who is protected by the WPS - ✔✔Worker Protection Standard (WPS) helps
protect employees on farms, forests, nurseries, & greenhouses from occupational
exposure.
✔✔C2: List the requirements of pesticide applicator records - ✔✔1) Name & certification
number of licensee; 2) Name & address of landowner or customer; 3) Address of the
place of application of pesticide; 4) Date of application; 5) Trade name of pesticide;
6) Quantity of pesticide used & the concentration or rate of application; 7) Temperature
and direction & velocity of wind; 8) the use of "restricted use" pesticides; 9) Time
pesticide application begins & ends.
✔✔C2: Describe the Sensitive Crops Directory - ✔✔It is an online registry to identify
locations of pesticide-sensitive crops & apiaries (bee yards): vineyards, orchards,
certified organic crops, and fruit & vegetable crops. Susceptible to drift & meet minimum
acreage requirements.
✔✔C2: Iowa Bee Rule - ✔✔Owners of apiaries shall register location (expires Dec 31);
shall not apply a pesticide labeled as toxic to bees within 1 mile of apiaries between 8
am & 6 pm (registered on 1st day of month)
✔✔C2: List the notification requirements for urban pesticide applications -
✔✔Notification: must post signs at the start of application; display signs for at least 24
hrs after the application (longer if label requires); does not apply to pesticides applied
within a structure or within 6 ft of the outside perimeter of a structure, nor to the
homeowner or tenant. Also, prenotification, durable signs, remove, provide label
✔✔C2: Summarize the Iowa atrazine management rules - ✔✔Atrazine is a restricted
use pesticide due to ground & surface water concerns. Atrazine application rates are
limited to 2.5 lbs per acre per calendar year; restricts rates to 1.5 lbs in 23 counties (7
county -wide 16 in some townships); may not be mixed, loaded, or repackaged within
50 feet of a sinkhole, well, cistern, lake, water impoundment, this includes, but is not
limited to, abandoned wells, agricultural drainage wells & drainage well surface inlets, &
drinking water wells; atrazine mixing, loading, & equipment cleanout must meet the
secondary containment requirements in the Iowa administrative code.
✔✔C2: Recognize the requirements of on-site containment of pesticides - ✔✔All non-
mobile bulk pesticide storage containers must be located within a watertight secondary
containment facility, a structure used to prevent runoff or leaching of pesticide materials.
If you store for more than 30 days & mix more than 300 gal and/or 300 lbs, your facility
is considered a permanent storage & mixing site. Paved & sloped & elevated, curbed;
engineer's design, plans IDALS; rainwater, cracks; washing, rinsates.
, ✔✔C2: Penalties for violations of the Pesticide Act of Iowa - ✔✔If you violate any
provisions of Pesticide Act of Iowa (PAI), max civil penalty must not exceed $500 per
violation;
✔✔C3: What constitutes a pest - ✔✔A pest is any living species whose activities cause
economic losses to your possessions, directly threaten your health, or are annoying.
✔✔C3: Define "integrated pest management" (IPM) - ✔✔Integrated Pest Management
(IPM) is an approach to controlling a specific pest in a specific setting that makes use of
current pest information, regular monitoring, & recordkeeping to determine if & when
action against the pest is needed. IPM uses a combination of control strategies
(biological, mechanical, cultural, physical, genetic, regulatory, & chemical) to prevent
unacceptable damage or annoyance. The control options used should be the most
effective with the least risk to people & the environment, yet provide viable options to
produce a quality, economical, & safe crop or maintain a clean, healthy indoor or
outdoor setting.
✔✔C3: List five major components of "integrated pest management" - ✔✔1) Identify the
pest & understand its biology, 2) Set up a monitoring program, 3) Know the available
control strategies, 4) Implement an IPM program, & 5) Record & evaluate results.
✔✔C3: Describe the concepts of economic & action threshold levels - ✔✔The economic
threshold level is the pest population density (number of pests per unit area) at which
control measures are needed to prevent the pest from reaching the economic injury
level; primarily in agricultural & ornamental pest control. An action threshold is the pest
level at which some type of pest management action should be taken; more appropriate
if you are not directly involved in production. It is a predetermined pest level that is
considered to be unacceptable.
✔✔C3: List several possible control tactics that may be used in an IPM strategy - ✔✔1)
Biological, 2) mechanical,
3) cultural, 4) physical,
5) genetic, 6) regulatory, &
7) chemical strategies.
✔✔C3: Discuss how pesticides can come in contact & move within target pests -
✔✔Once a pesticide comes in contact with the target species, it can move in various
ways . SYSTEMIC pesticides, once they are absorbed through the leaves or roots, are
translocated within the treated plant. CONTACT pesticides must directly touch the pest
or a site the pest frequents to be effective.
✔✔C3: Recognize the steps to take to minimize the development of pesticide resistance
- ✔✔Using different pest management strategies can help prevent or delay the
occurrence of pesticide resistance. One tactic is to use products with different MODES
OF ACTION to reduce the likelihood of resistance developing in a population. Changing
2025/2026 QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
✔✔C1: Who is protected by the WPS - ✔✔Worker Protection Standard (WPS) helps
protect employees on farms, forests, nurseries, & greenhouses from occupational
exposure.
✔✔C2: List the requirements of pesticide applicator records - ✔✔1) Name & certification
number of licensee; 2) Name & address of landowner or customer; 3) Address of the
place of application of pesticide; 4) Date of application; 5) Trade name of pesticide;
6) Quantity of pesticide used & the concentration or rate of application; 7) Temperature
and direction & velocity of wind; 8) the use of "restricted use" pesticides; 9) Time
pesticide application begins & ends.
✔✔C2: Describe the Sensitive Crops Directory - ✔✔It is an online registry to identify
locations of pesticide-sensitive crops & apiaries (bee yards): vineyards, orchards,
certified organic crops, and fruit & vegetable crops. Susceptible to drift & meet minimum
acreage requirements.
✔✔C2: Iowa Bee Rule - ✔✔Owners of apiaries shall register location (expires Dec 31);
shall not apply a pesticide labeled as toxic to bees within 1 mile of apiaries between 8
am & 6 pm (registered on 1st day of month)
✔✔C2: List the notification requirements for urban pesticide applications -
✔✔Notification: must post signs at the start of application; display signs for at least 24
hrs after the application (longer if label requires); does not apply to pesticides applied
within a structure or within 6 ft of the outside perimeter of a structure, nor to the
homeowner or tenant. Also, prenotification, durable signs, remove, provide label
✔✔C2: Summarize the Iowa atrazine management rules - ✔✔Atrazine is a restricted
use pesticide due to ground & surface water concerns. Atrazine application rates are
limited to 2.5 lbs per acre per calendar year; restricts rates to 1.5 lbs in 23 counties (7
county -wide 16 in some townships); may not be mixed, loaded, or repackaged within
50 feet of a sinkhole, well, cistern, lake, water impoundment, this includes, but is not
limited to, abandoned wells, agricultural drainage wells & drainage well surface inlets, &
drinking water wells; atrazine mixing, loading, & equipment cleanout must meet the
secondary containment requirements in the Iowa administrative code.
✔✔C2: Recognize the requirements of on-site containment of pesticides - ✔✔All non-
mobile bulk pesticide storage containers must be located within a watertight secondary
containment facility, a structure used to prevent runoff or leaching of pesticide materials.
If you store for more than 30 days & mix more than 300 gal and/or 300 lbs, your facility
is considered a permanent storage & mixing site. Paved & sloped & elevated, curbed;
engineer's design, plans IDALS; rainwater, cracks; washing, rinsates.
, ✔✔C2: Penalties for violations of the Pesticide Act of Iowa - ✔✔If you violate any
provisions of Pesticide Act of Iowa (PAI), max civil penalty must not exceed $500 per
violation;
✔✔C3: What constitutes a pest - ✔✔A pest is any living species whose activities cause
economic losses to your possessions, directly threaten your health, or are annoying.
✔✔C3: Define "integrated pest management" (IPM) - ✔✔Integrated Pest Management
(IPM) is an approach to controlling a specific pest in a specific setting that makes use of
current pest information, regular monitoring, & recordkeeping to determine if & when
action against the pest is needed. IPM uses a combination of control strategies
(biological, mechanical, cultural, physical, genetic, regulatory, & chemical) to prevent
unacceptable damage or annoyance. The control options used should be the most
effective with the least risk to people & the environment, yet provide viable options to
produce a quality, economical, & safe crop or maintain a clean, healthy indoor or
outdoor setting.
✔✔C3: List five major components of "integrated pest management" - ✔✔1) Identify the
pest & understand its biology, 2) Set up a monitoring program, 3) Know the available
control strategies, 4) Implement an IPM program, & 5) Record & evaluate results.
✔✔C3: Describe the concepts of economic & action threshold levels - ✔✔The economic
threshold level is the pest population density (number of pests per unit area) at which
control measures are needed to prevent the pest from reaching the economic injury
level; primarily in agricultural & ornamental pest control. An action threshold is the pest
level at which some type of pest management action should be taken; more appropriate
if you are not directly involved in production. It is a predetermined pest level that is
considered to be unacceptable.
✔✔C3: List several possible control tactics that may be used in an IPM strategy - ✔✔1)
Biological, 2) mechanical,
3) cultural, 4) physical,
5) genetic, 6) regulatory, &
7) chemical strategies.
✔✔C3: Discuss how pesticides can come in contact & move within target pests -
✔✔Once a pesticide comes in contact with the target species, it can move in various
ways . SYSTEMIC pesticides, once they are absorbed through the leaves or roots, are
translocated within the treated plant. CONTACT pesticides must directly touch the pest
or a site the pest frequents to be effective.
✔✔C3: Recognize the steps to take to minimize the development of pesticide resistance
- ✔✔Using different pest management strategies can help prevent or delay the
occurrence of pesticide resistance. One tactic is to use products with different MODES
OF ACTION to reduce the likelihood of resistance developing in a population. Changing
