Pesticide users in Ireland are being urged to take extra care ahead of the upcoming spraying season, the Irish Farmers Journal reports.

The call comes as contractors and farmers prepare equipment for the busy spring and summer application window, when the volume of pesticide handling, mixing and spraying across Irish farms peaks.

Why the warning now?

Spraying season is the highest-risk period for pesticide exposure. Operators face increased handling of concentrated products during mixing and loading, longer hours on sprayers, and greater pressure to cover hectares quickly as weather windows open.

The warning asks users to slow down and follow established safety practice at every stage of the job.

What should operators do?

The guidance points to the basics that get skipped under time pressure:

• Read the product label fully before use, every time
• Wear the correct personal protective equipment when handling concentrates
• Check sprayer equipment for leaks and faults before filling
• Store products securely, away from unauthorized access
• Follow buffer and watercourse protection requirements when spraying

Ireland's pesticide regulatory framework requires users to observe statutory conditions of use set out on labels, and registered professional users must complete the required training and, where applicable, maintain records of applications.

What is at stake?

Careless pesticide use carries consequences beyond the immediate safety risk. Product losses through drift, poor calibration or incorrect tank mixing hit margins directly at a time when input costs remain a major pressure on tillage and grassland budgets.

Residue violations and water contamination incidents also carry regulatory consequences, and detection of pesticide exceedances in drinking water monitoring has repeatedly been linked to careless spraying and spills near abstraction points.

A pre-season equipment check — nozzles, filters, gauges, hoses and calibration — costs little and prevents both waste and unintended off-target movement of product.

What to watch next

Operators should treat the coming weeks as the window for preparation: verify training records, service sprayers, review labels for any updated statutory conditions and confirm storage compliance before the first field passes begin.