NEWBERRY COUNTY — The Newberry Soil and Water Conservation District will host a class on the pesticide LibertyLink Soybeans on May 26 that will offer one hour of credit for those wanting training hours for their pesticide license.
The class will begin at 7 p.m. at the Helena Community Center and will be taught by Alfred “Jay” Crouch, area agent and certified crop advisor at the Clemson Extension Office. LibertyLink is a herbicide manufactured by Bayer Crop Science.
“Roundup Ready, what we have had since the late 1990s, has got a lot of weed resistance. We have weeds previously controlled by Roundup that are not anymore,” Crouch said. “We had to start looking for a different herbicide mode of action to control those weeds, and Liberty does that.”
According to Crouch, LibertyLink Corn — designed specifically for use on corn — has been floating around for years, but never caught on. However, when Roundup stopped controlling weeds, a new alternative — LibertyLink — was developed.
“Liberty is a whole different technology. It is a horse of a different color,” Crouch said. During the class, Crouch will discuss the herbicide’s timing and the rates.
Crouch said a common misconception is that a pesticide is just poison but a pesticide can be anything that controls pests, like herbicide or insecticide. Certain pesticides are considered a restricted-use pesticide in South Carolina and anyone wanting to use one must have a licence.
“Certain pesticides, based on their characteristics that are determined by the EPA, are classified as restricted use. In order to buy a restricted use pesticide in the state of South Carolina, you have to have a license. The license is administered through the Department of Pesticide Regulation at Clemson,” said Crouch.
Crouch teaches a course that includes a 50 question exam at the end. Those who pass the exam are allowed to apply for a license.
The license is good for five years and in those five years, the license holder has to obtain five hours of continued training. If they do not get that five hours of training, they cannot renew their license.
A sign in sheet will be passed around during the course and anyone who attends will need to fill out their name and license number to get credit.
The class does not have a size limit but organizers do need to know how many people will be attending. Call Danielle Rowe, district coordinator with the Newberry Soil and Water Conservation District, at 803-276-1978 Ext. 101 or email her at newberrysoilandwater@gmail.com to RSVP.