Explore by Career/Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance
Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation
Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application on trees, shrubs, lawns, or crops. Usually requires specific training and state or federal certification.
- Median pay
- $45,200
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- +3.8%
- Stable
- Typical entry
- High school diploma or equivalent
Key skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Time Management
- Reading Comprehension
- Social Perceptiveness
- Coordination
- Complex Problem Solving
What they do
- Mix pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides for application to trees, shrubs, lawns, or botanical crops.
- Fill sprayer tanks with water and chemicals, according to formulas.
- Lift, push, and swing nozzles, hoses, and tubes to direct spray over designated areas.
- Identify lawn or plant diseases to determine the appropriate course of treatment.
- Cover areas to specified depths with pesticides, applying knowledge of weather conditions, droplet sizes, elevation-to-distance ratios, and obstructions.
- Start motors and engage machinery, such as sprayer agitators or pumps or portable spray equipment.
- Connect hoses and nozzles selected according to terrain, distribution pattern requirements, types of infestations, and velocities.
- Clean or service machinery to ensure operating efficiency, using water, gasoline, lubricants, or hand tools.
- Provide driving instructions to truck drivers to ensure complete coverage of designated areas, using hand and horn signals.
- Plant grass with seed spreaders, and operate straw blowers to cover seeded areas with mixtures of asphalt and straw.
Majors that lead here
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.