SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) is offering in-person and online pesticide exam options this season. Online pesticide exams are available now and utilize an online exam proctoring service. There will be a small fee of $12 paid directly to the online proctoring service for those who take the online exam.

“The pandemic required us to find alternative ways to test outside traditional in-person exams,” said IDOA Acting Bureau Chief, Brad Beaver. “Online testing continues to be a good option for our pesticide applicators and the addition of in-person dates will make testing easily accessible for everyone.”

For those wanting to take an in-person exam or needing an alternative to online testing, pre-registration is required. Please note, in-person testing class sizes will be reduced due to COVID so early registration is advised to secure this option.

In this area, in-person exams will be given in Princeton at U of I Extension, 850 Thompson St., Princeton. Sessions will be from 9 a.m. to noon on Thursday, Feb. 10 and Thursday, March 17.

Tests will also be given in DeKalb at the Illinois Department of Agriculture, 2280 Bethany Road, Suite B, DeKalb. Upcoming morning sessions will be from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 11, 18, and 25; Feb. 1, 8, 15, and 22; and March 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29. Afternoon sessions will be from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 13, 20, and 27; Feb. 3, 10, 17, and 24; March 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31.

For a complete list of in-person testing locations and online registration information, visit: https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/agr/Pesticides/Pages/default.aspx.