Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 27,600 people employed as pesticide handlers, sprayers, and applicators, vegetation in the United States. The median annual salary is $38,270. Entry level employees earn approximately $28,820 per year and senior employees earn approximately $53,690 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• 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.
• 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.
• Mix pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides for application to trees, shrubs, lawns, or botanical crops.
• Fill sprayer tanks with water and chemicals, according to formulas.

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