• Attain at least three years of experience with no fewer than 200 hours of agricultural aerial application under the supervision of a commercial aerial applicator.
• Be licensed as a commercial aerial applicator before December 27, 1988.
• Successfully complete an aerial applicator training program recognized by the MDARD Director as sufficient to assure the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare and the environment.
  
   

All commercial aerial applicators must maintain pesticide application equipment in compliance with the following performance standards and be inspected once every three years:

• Dry breaks must be used to connect loading hoses to aircraft.
• Double-clamped hose connections must be in place for all hoses.
• Hoses worn beyond a safe condition must be immediately replaced.
• Mesh screens on loading hoses shall be at least 20 mesh unless otherwise specified by the pesticide manufacturer.
• Shut-off valves must be in place at the discharge side of the loading pump and on each side of dry breaks.
• The loading system must be flushed with clean water at the completion of each individual load, except when using undiluted material.
• Equipment such as gaskets on quick-disconnect coupling, nozzle check valve diaphragms, and o-rings must be replaced annually.
• An aircraft with a circulating pump system must have an operating three-way spray valve that, when in the off position, creates a negative pressure on the outlet or boom side.
  
  View the aircraft inspection form to confirm your aircraft meets Michigan’s performance standards for aerial applications. 

A business must comply with all FAA regulations for pilots and agricultural aircrafts. Commercial applicators who apply pesticides from an aircraft for compensation in Michigan must be in the employ of a firm that holds a pesticide application business license. To do so they must: 

1. Apply to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Corporations, Securities and Commercial Licensing Bureau.  
2. Once the firm is authorized to operate the business in Michigan, a Michigan Corporation identification number will be assigned to the aerial application firm.
3. Next, the aerial application firm must apply to MDARD for a Pesticide Application Business License (PABL). 

• Licensed aerial application companies hiring applicators must list the pilot(s) on the firm’s agricultural aircraft operator certificate.
• Independent pilots soliciting and fulfilling contracts in Michigan must obtain a PABL license for themselves and meet Michigan’s certified applicator requirements. 

Aerial applicators are required to have a primary location in Michigan where pesticides are loaded, mixed, or transferred from one container to another. Applicators must submit a report including the location of this mix load pad to MDARD on an annual basis. 

The FAA provides regulations for the issuance of a remote pilot certificate as well as operating rules for drone operators, including rules such as maintaining line of sight, weighing less than 55 pounds, moving at less than 100 mph, and staying below 400 feet.

The FAA Part 107 exam costs $175 and study courses cost which cost approximately $149. There are no additional fees after getting a certificate and you can renew your license every 24 calendar months for free.

An agricultural aircraft operation means the operation of an aircraft for the purpose of: 

• Dispensing any pesticide used to destroy or mitigate insects, diseases, weeds, or other pests.
• Dispensing any other substance intended for plant nourishment, soil treatment, propagation of plant life, or pest control.

Visit the FAA website for additional information. 

To operate a UAS for agricultural aircraft operations under 14 CFR part 137, an operator must:

• Obtain an exemption under 14 CFR part 11
• Obtain an agricultural aircraft operator certificate under 14 CFR part 137
• Each pilot must obtain a 14 CFR part 107 remote pilot certificate

Visit the FAA website for information on how to submit a petition for exemption. 

In addition, for drones larger than 55 pounds, you may also need 49 USC Section 44807 (Special Authority for Certain Unmanned Systems) and a Part 61 medical certificate. Check with your drone manufacturer or the FAA website for more information on these requirements.

An aerial applicator must meet at least one of the following requirements before engaging in the aerial application of pesticides:

• Attain at least three years of experience with no fewer than 200 hours of agricultural aerial application under the supervision of a commercial aerial applicator.
•  Be licensed as a commercial aerial applicator before December 27, 1988.
• Successfully complete an aerial applicator training program recognized by director as sufficient to assure the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare and the environment.

MDARD recognizes UAV pesticide applications are a newly emerging industry, until there are new regulations, we have identified a way to use this training program to get individuals piloting UAVs into compliance.

Click here to view MDARD’s Aerial Applicator Program Guidelines for UAVs. 

All aerial applicators who will be commercially applying pesticides in Michigan need to be certified in the commercial core, the Aerial Standard (AE), and the appropriate categories.  These may include but are not limited to 1A - Field Crops, 1B - Vegetables, 1C - Fruit Crops, 2 – Forest, 3B – Ornamental, 5 – Aquatic Pests and 7F - Mosquito.

A private agricultural applicator or a commercial applicator authorized under Act 451, Part 8315 to make aerial application of pesticides shall do either of the following once every three years.

• Demonstrate to the director the applicator’s personal participation in a self-regulating application flight efficiency clinic sponsored or recognized by Michigan State University’s Pesticide Safety Education Program and approved by MDARD with an aircraft that the applicant operates.
• Retake the certification examinations and submit to an inspection of the applicator’s aircraft spray equipment, and spray operations by an authorized representative of the director.

Visit www.michigan.gov/mdardpestcert for additional information on how to become a certified applicator.

Businesses must comply with all FAA regulations for pilots and agricultural aircrafts. Commercial applicators who apply pesticides from an aircraft for compensation in Michigan must be employed by a firm holding a pesticide application business license. To obtain a license: 

• Apply to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Corporations, Securities and Commercial Licensing Bureau.  
• Once the firm is authorized to operate the business in Michigan, a Michigan Corporation identification number will be assigned to the aerial application firm.
• Next the aerial application firm must apply to MDARD for a Pesticide Application Business License (PABL). 
• Licensed aerial application companies hiring an applicator to do applications for them, the pilot should be listed on the firm’s agricultural aircraft operator certificate (FAA part 137).
• Independent pilots that solicit and fulfill Michigan contracts on their own, must obtain a PABL license for themselves and meet Michigan certified applicator requirements.