There was a lot of reaction to the IFA sprayer course price survey that we carried last week. Some was from farmers who had done the course and looked at the lowest prices and felt they had overpaid. Training organisations also wanted to make it clear the difference in prices that was quoted.

Farmers applying pesticides will have to become registered before the deadline in late November. The move comes under the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive (SUD) due to be implemented by the Department of Agriculture. Farmers must have completed the required course before being able to register.

A range of courses are popping up to meet the demand across the country.

The IFA recently surveyed the prices that farmers are being asked to pay. While most courses are quoted at around the €200 mark, it is obvious that cheaper options (some as low as €120) are available, especially where a group of farmers is coming together.

This is key to getting a lower price, but in some cases, farmers who cannot join a group will have no option but to pay the higher price to get on a course that suits them

There are two separate elements to the training – boom and knapsack. While some courses are doing boom only, others are offering both for a slightly higher price.

FRS Training

Jim Dockery, training manager at FRS Training, which is a limited company set up and owned by the FRS Network, contacted me to say its base price for either boom or knapsack courses is €200 per person.

The lower price is for some courses funded by Skillnets, and this will be reflected in a lower cost to the farmer. Where FRS Training tenders for a large number of courses (50 to 70) with the same organisation, it may also give a discount, which will be reflected in a reduced cost per farmer.

FRS delivers a practical and comprehensive course over a two-day period, with a week between day one and day two, which allows participants to practice and calibrate their sprayers. It limits the number of participants to 10 as this allows time to give full attention in practically assessing each participant on day two.

FRS has said it will work with co-ops, feed merchants, IFA, Teagasc and discussion groups, as well as many others, to bring together groups. Its role is merely pulling together 10 people from as small an area as possible to avoid unnecessary travel.

Glanbia was organising courses for up to 16 farmers for a cost of €170 per farmer. This included the cost of the course and also some protection equipment, such as goggles, suit and gloves.

Once courses are done, farmers will have to keep up-to-date records of pesticides purchased and used. Grassland farmers in particular have to be careful what products they are using for spot spraying with knapsacks.

This is because some sprays have not been cleared to be used in spot spraying, mainly because of the limited size of the market and cost of doing so.

A list of trainers who carry out the courses is available on www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/sud