In most cases, fields do not have to be posted under the Worker Protection Standard. Review the Agricultural Use Requirements box on the pesticide label to determine if posting is required. The majority of pesticides do not have a posting requirement.

Even if the label requires posting, you do not have to post if:

• you don't employ nonfamily members.
  
• you don't employ any workers. (Workers are individuals who prepare fields for planting, cultivate fields, spread manure, pick up rocks, hoe plants, etc. Workers do not handle or apply pesticides. Individuals who handle or apply pesticides are called handlers.)
  
• workers employed on the farm will not be in the treated area or walk within 1/4 mile of the treated area during the pesticide application or while the restricted entry interval is in effect.
  
• the only workers on the farm are individuals who applied (or supervised the application of) the pesticide and are aware of all the information that must be provided. These individuals were considered handlers during the pesticide application. Under the Standard, the same individuals may be handlers during one task and workers during another task.
  

The posting requirement is separate from the employer information exchange requirement. All dealers/custom applicators are required to provide information to the farmer about each pesticide application they make.

If you have questions, contact Joyce Hornstein or Wendy Wintersteen, ISU Extension Entomology Office at 515-294-1101 or Jim Ellerhoff, IDALS at 515-281-8591.

This article originally appeared in the May 5, 1995 issue, p. 58.