By TIM ALEXANDER Illinois Correspondent BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The first three classes of students enrolled in the Applicator Training Course at the new Asmark-AGCO Applicator Training Center have recently graduated, earning certification as properly trained, professional applicators. Each class of 20 students received basic operating skills and machine-specific, hands-on training from course leaders and industry technical representatives requiring knowledge of math, chemistry, measurement, technology and customer skills. The Applicator Training Center, at 10226 E. 1400 North Road in Bloomington, Ill., is the nation’s most complete training facility for those seeking the skills and knowledge to operate complex, technologically advanced crop protection and pesticide application equipment. The four-day training course, developed by The Asmark Institute, was created to address the challenge of finding and properly training new (and not-so-new) applicators to make proper crop nutrient and crop protection product decisions and applications. “The students have the ability to evaluate the situation for each load and field and be prepared to optimize the application or make the decision to delay or not spray if that is the right thing to do,” said Allen Summers, president of the Asmark Institute, an Owensboro, Ky.-based, not-for-profit educational organization created in 2005 to deliver Asmark’s collection of educational training materials to the retail farm sector. “We’ve received positive response from all levels of the retail and crop protection industry, so we’re excited to get underway.” Classroom, hands-on training The training instruction team brings more than 80 years of experience in their fields to the training center’s classrooms, which were specially built as part of the new, 6,000 square-foot Applicator Training Center, along with offices, board rooms and a lobby that serves as a mini-museum to the history of crop field application. Lead instructor Greg Yoder of Danvers, Illinois has been a respected crop application management professional for more than four decades, as has Dr. Robert Wolf, particularly for his work with spray drift and application technologies. “We position the course as a boot camp,” said Summers. “It’s for beginners, zero-to-three years experience. Applicators are the ones that interface with the customer more than any other person at a retail facility. We talk to them about professionalism, and then we go into how to start a field.” The classes, which cost $575 per student (usually covered by employers), begin on Tuesday mornings at 8 a.m. and end on Fridays at 2 p.m. Like most school curriculum, courses include classroom training and bookwork. Training includes how to read and understand product labels and safety data sheets, measurement calculations such as ounces, pints and gallons, proper tank cleanout procedures and record keeping. Also covered is the biology of weed resistance development, the importance of moving toward a program approach for weed control, and rotating herbicide modes of action in lieu of single-mode action. Students learn how to reduce or eliminate off-target applications due to spray drift by learning the relationship between pressure, nozzle, droplet size and speed. Projectors inside the classroom convey images, charts and other data onto a floor area centered around classroom tables and the instructor’s podium. Hands-on training includes building a functional spraying system by properly attaching hoses to each component of a pre-plumbed system. Students must demonstrate competency in all aspects of the course, especially during a tabletop scenario used to decide to “spray or not to spray” based on various scenarios. Drive-and-ride tests proficiency The reward comes when students are introduced to the big machines they’ll be required to operate on the training center’s mile-long, all-weather training track, which includes hazards such as utility poles and power lines (laser simulated), railroad crossings, overgrown entrances and changing field conditions. The drive-and-ride exercise, as one might imagine, is the favorite aspect of the course to many of the first graduates. “The classroom work and the demonstrations were all great but the driving was an eye-opener,” said Levi Harp of Easton, Ill. “I truly learned a lot and enjoyed it.” Added Dustin Twellman of St. Charles, Mo., “The ride-and-drive was very real and had the things I see every day in the field.” Summers explained that on Thursday, the day of the ride-and drives, students break up into two groups. “Half go on the ride-and-drive and the other half go to three self-study exercises. The self-study exercises are on how to secure a machine on a trailer, how to connect components of a sprayer and the procedures of transferring (materials) from a nurse truck into an applicator,” he said. “Each half of the class does that for three hours, then they switch.” Asmark developed the training course’s unique power line simulator along with CornBelt Energy, which contributed three electrical poles equipped with invisible laser sensors that sound when triggered by an applicator’s boom arm. “A horn goes off and a light goes off and at that point (drivers) would know they were in trouble,” Summers said. “Every year we lose an applicator in our client base to a fatality involving an electrical line. We also lose one each year to being struck by a train crossing into a field, and we probably have close to 100 accidents occur each year when an applicator is trying to turn left as a motor vehicle tries to pass them on the left.” There are some 20 sections to get through during the four days of the course, and students must demonstrate proficiency and knowledge of all facets of the training through written, oral and hands-on tests. “They participate in an audience response session and answer questions after each section, making sure they all stay together in the process and don’t leave anybody behind,” said Summers. “They have a 48-question final applicator’s test at the end, and based on their demonstration of proficiency throughout the course they get a certificate of completion.” ‘First crop’ of students The first “crop” of students to take part in the Applicator Training Course hailed from Illinois, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Indiana. The course is the fourth signature training course launched by the Asmark Institute (along with anhydrous ammonia technician training, safe grain handling operations, and emergency response to agriculture incidents), and is the only one of its kind in the country, according to Summers. “The class is top-notch and made me feel comfortable in learning how to become a professional applicator,” says training center graduate Garth Osborne of Ivesdale, Ill. “The experience and knowledge of the instructors made for a great interactive experience – I can’t imagine a better way to learn how to be an applicator.” Austin Burgess, of Effingham, Ill., added, “I am more of a hands-on person, so being able to move around between all the demonstrations was great.” During a twelve-month period, 400 seats will be made available for students wishing to enroll in the Asmark Applicator Training Course. Those interested in more information on the Asmark-AGCO Applicator Training Center and Applicator Training Course should visit www.asmark.org/TrainingCourses |
