Record keeping for farm pesticide application

In accordance with the regulations, commercial users of agricultural chemicals are required to make and keep records for each agricultural chemical product application.  

Additionally, the responsible owner or occupier of land must have a record of use of agricultural chemical product on that land. 

Records must be made no later than 7 days after the date of the use and must be kept for 2 years and include:

• the date and the time of application 
• the name and contact details of the responsible owner/occupier and the person who applied the chemical
• the location of the chemical application
• the name of the agricultural chemical product or products used
• method of application
• the rate of application or other information to allow the determination of application rate
• the situation, crop or commodity to which the chemical was applied
• additional records as required by the product label or permit of the chemical product used. 

The records must be available for inspection if requested by an inspector and can be in written or electronic form. 

Exemptions from the requirement to keep records include:

• hand application of domestic products used in limited quantities  
• you use a pesticide outdoors in quantities of no more than 5 litres/5 kilograms of concentrated product or 20 litres/20 kilograms of ready-to-use product, or you use a pesticide indoors in quantities of no more than 1 litre/1 kilogram of concentrated product or 5 litres/5 kilograms of the ready-to-use product 
• use in dwellings or the grounds of a dwelling
• sanitisers for public swimming pools or public spa baths.