KANSAS COMMERCIAL PESTICIDE STUDY GUIDE 2025/2026
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
✔✔Give several reasons to use IPM rather than using only a pesticide. - ✔✔IPM
programs:
1. often ensure better success at the treatment site
2. promote a more balanced ecosystem and are more environmentally friendly
3. are less likely to lead to pesticide resistance and secondary pest outbreaks
4. may reduce pesticide use and can help protect beneficial insects
5. are often more acceptable to the public.
✔✔name at least 5 basic steps in an effective IPM program - ✔✔1. idnetify pest
2. monitor the pest
3. decide whether control is justified
4. determine a pest control goal
5. know what control tactics are available
6. evaluate the benefits and risks of each tactic
7. choose the most effective strategies that will cause the least harm to people and
environment
8. use each tactic correctly
9. observe all applicable local, state, and federal regulations.
10. record and evaluate results
✔✔name 5 IPM elements - ✔✔host resistance
biological control
cultural control
mechanical and physical control
and chemical control
✔✔what is host resistance? - ✔✔the ability of a plant to withstand pests
✔✔what is biological control? - ✔✔the use of living organisms to control pests. these
may be natural enemies or biologically altering the pest (releasing sterile males into
pest population)
✔✔what is cultural control? - ✔✔changing the habitat where the pest flourishes. ex.
cultural practices and sanitation
✔✔name at least 6 cultural practices used to manage pests - ✔✔pruning, thinning and
fertilization
rotating crops
tillage
mulching
varying time of planting or harvest
, trap crops
adjusting row width
✔✔what is sanitation? - ✔✔use of hygiene practices to manage pests.
✔✔what type of mechanical methods could you use to control weeds? - ✔✔weed
eaters, shovels, scythes, plows, disks, and mowers
✔✔what is physical control and how can it be used to manage certain pests? -
✔✔changing certain environmental conditions such as water, air movement,
temperature, light and humidity. such changes can control or even eradicate pests.
✔✔name 5 important qualities to consider when choosing a pesticide. - ✔✔efficacy,
persistence, mobility, toxicity, and mode of action
✔✔what is the difference between selective and non selective herbicides? - ✔✔a
selective herbicide controls some plants and not others (ex. sethoxydim only controls
grasses and not broadleaf)
non selective controls all types of plants.
✔✔what is the difference between residual and non residual pesticides? -
✔✔nonresidual pesticides break down quickly into nontoxic by-products. a residual
pesticide may remain active for weeks, months, or even years
✔✔define pesticide resistance - ✔✔the ability of a pest population that is repeatedly
exposed to a given pesticide to resist and survive its effects. an insect population, for
example, often has "abnormal" members that can tolerate exposure to insecticide doses
that kill "normal" members. Each time the same MOA is used, the susceptible members
die, and the resistant members survive and breed. in time most of the members will be
resistant to the insecticide.
✔✔how can you slow down or limit pesticide resistance? - ✔✔1. rotate MOAs
2. use pesticides that target multiple sites in a pest
3. use new or altered pesticides
4. treat alternate generations of pests
5. use non chemical control methods where feasible
✔✔explain the difference between the words "label" and "labeling" - ✔✔The label is the
information printed on tor attached to the pesticide container. labeling includes the label
itself, plus all other info recieved from the manufacturer about the product
✔✔what is registration of a pesticide - ✔✔the ongoing review of a registered pesticide
to assess the risks and benefits associated with its labeled uses. the goal of registration
is to identify and reduce risks, based on current scientific knowledge
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
✔✔Give several reasons to use IPM rather than using only a pesticide. - ✔✔IPM
programs:
1. often ensure better success at the treatment site
2. promote a more balanced ecosystem and are more environmentally friendly
3. are less likely to lead to pesticide resistance and secondary pest outbreaks
4. may reduce pesticide use and can help protect beneficial insects
5. are often more acceptable to the public.
✔✔name at least 5 basic steps in an effective IPM program - ✔✔1. idnetify pest
2. monitor the pest
3. decide whether control is justified
4. determine a pest control goal
5. know what control tactics are available
6. evaluate the benefits and risks of each tactic
7. choose the most effective strategies that will cause the least harm to people and
environment
8. use each tactic correctly
9. observe all applicable local, state, and federal regulations.
10. record and evaluate results
✔✔name 5 IPM elements - ✔✔host resistance
biological control
cultural control
mechanical and physical control
and chemical control
✔✔what is host resistance? - ✔✔the ability of a plant to withstand pests
✔✔what is biological control? - ✔✔the use of living organisms to control pests. these
may be natural enemies or biologically altering the pest (releasing sterile males into
pest population)
✔✔what is cultural control? - ✔✔changing the habitat where the pest flourishes. ex.
cultural practices and sanitation
✔✔name at least 6 cultural practices used to manage pests - ✔✔pruning, thinning and
fertilization
rotating crops
tillage
mulching
varying time of planting or harvest
, trap crops
adjusting row width
✔✔what is sanitation? - ✔✔use of hygiene practices to manage pests.
✔✔what type of mechanical methods could you use to control weeds? - ✔✔weed
eaters, shovels, scythes, plows, disks, and mowers
✔✔what is physical control and how can it be used to manage certain pests? -
✔✔changing certain environmental conditions such as water, air movement,
temperature, light and humidity. such changes can control or even eradicate pests.
✔✔name 5 important qualities to consider when choosing a pesticide. - ✔✔efficacy,
persistence, mobility, toxicity, and mode of action
✔✔what is the difference between selective and non selective herbicides? - ✔✔a
selective herbicide controls some plants and not others (ex. sethoxydim only controls
grasses and not broadleaf)
non selective controls all types of plants.
✔✔what is the difference between residual and non residual pesticides? -
✔✔nonresidual pesticides break down quickly into nontoxic by-products. a residual
pesticide may remain active for weeks, months, or even years
✔✔define pesticide resistance - ✔✔the ability of a pest population that is repeatedly
exposed to a given pesticide to resist and survive its effects. an insect population, for
example, often has "abnormal" members that can tolerate exposure to insecticide doses
that kill "normal" members. Each time the same MOA is used, the susceptible members
die, and the resistant members survive and breed. in time most of the members will be
resistant to the insecticide.
✔✔how can you slow down or limit pesticide resistance? - ✔✔1. rotate MOAs
2. use pesticides that target multiple sites in a pest
3. use new or altered pesticides
4. treat alternate generations of pests
5. use non chemical control methods where feasible
✔✔explain the difference between the words "label" and "labeling" - ✔✔The label is the
information printed on tor attached to the pesticide container. labeling includes the label
itself, plus all other info recieved from the manufacturer about the product
✔✔what is registration of a pesticide - ✔✔the ongoing review of a registered pesticide
to assess the risks and benefits associated with its labeled uses. the goal of registration
is to identify and reduce risks, based on current scientific knowledge
