Course Goals

July 14-17, 2026 | Willamette Valley, OR

  • Educate new and experienced field staff on emerging agricultural issues and concerns regarding varying pesticide use patterns and new regulations.
  • Enhance participants’ ability to meet the present challenges of enforcing FIFRA. Topics may include pollinator protection, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), ESA, PEI inspection including container/containment, language barriers, devices, label interpretation, AEZ, and rodenticide updates.
  • Provide networking opportunities for those in the pesticide community.

Target Audience

State, Territory and Tribal Pesticide inspectors operating under a cooperative agreement that would benefit from a review of current hot topics related to ag use inspections with a minimum of two years of experience.

Nominations & Participants

Nominations are submitted via an online form and selections will be made by the PIRT team and planning group. Nominations will open May 11th and close May 25th. Selected participants will be notified no later than June 1, 2026.

Planning Committee

  • Andrea Sonnen – Oregon Department of Agriculture
  • Chad Schultze – US EPA Region 10 
  • Joe (Cricket) Herrera – Yakama Nation
  • Kaci Buhl – Oregon State University
  • Otto Oemig – Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection
  • Pat Jones – North Carolina Department of Agriculture
  • Ryan WIlliams – Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food & Forestry
  • Tim Stein – Washington State Department of Agriculture
  • Toby Primbs – Oregon Department of Agriculture 

Travel & Lodging Information

  • State, Territory, and Tribal Participants
    • Lodging, flight, and ground transportation will be arranged and paid for by the PIRT team. There is no registration fee for State, Territory, and Tribal Participants.
  • EPA Participants
    • EPA Participants are responsible for reserving their own flights, lodging, and ground transportation. There is a registration fee for EPA participants.
  • More information will be shared via email after accepted attendees complete the course registration form. Please look for these in your Inbox/Spam folder.