# North Dakota pesticide application records for farms and contractors

URL: https://leafwrit.com/us/north-dakota-pesticide-application-records/
Reviewed: 2026-10-28

North Dakota farm spray records have a state legal basis. The current Administrative Code, amended April 1, 2026, requires private applicators to record restricted-use pesticide applications and commercial/public applicators to record all pesticide applications and pesticide-rinsate use or disposal. It sets a twenty-four-hour entry requirement. Century Code 4.1-33-14 establishes three-year preservation for the records it covers.

[Open NDDA's official multiple-application record, SFN 62506 (4-2026)](https://www.ndda.nd.gov/sites/www/files/documents/files/62506%20Pesticide%20Application%20Record%20%28Multiple%20Application%29.pdf). Use the worksheet alongside the current category-specific rule. A form is a practical collection aid; the administrative code determines the required scope and contents.

## Use the North Dakota rule rather than the removed federal timer

USDA removed 7 CFR Part 110 effective July 11, 2025. Its former private-applicator rule does not supply a current federal fourteen-day entry timer. North Dakota's current administrative rule has its own private-applicator subsection and its own twenty-four-hour timing. Keep that distinction visible in the farm's written record instructions.

The April 2026 administrative-code amendment is included in the legislature's current chapter and amendment publication. This guide uses that current chapter, read October 28, 2026, rather than an archived version with an older history note. The private subsection explicitly distinguishes total product information and rate measures, so the exact fields matter as well as the deadline.

Identify whether the person is operating as a private, commercial or public applicator before choosing a master worksheet. Keep that category in the office guide. A farm's own restricted-use application and a contractor's broader record are related evidence but do not have identical category scope.

## Private applicators: identify the place and treatment time

The private subsection requires a legal description of the land, grain-bin identification or another description of where the pesticide was applied. Use a location reference that can be interpreted after the season. A nickname such as “north place” is easier to use if your folder also retains the location key connecting it to the property or bin.

The rule includes application beginning/completion time information and the date. NDDA's worksheet provides separate Application Date, Start Time and Stop Time fields. Keep all three rather than reducing several treatments to a month name or an undifferentiated daily total.

For your own working directory, connect field names, legal descriptions and bin references before distributing blank forms. This is an editorial organization suggestion. It helps the applicator use familiar language in the field without leaving the office unable to connect that language with the recorded treatment location.

## Private product identity, quantities and applicator evidence

For each private restricted-use application, the rule specifies the trade name and EPA registration number. It also includes total amount, formulated-product rate per area, tank-mix rate per area, the crop or commodity and treated extent. Preserve the product measurement and spray-mixture measurement in separate fields. A tank volume does not by itself explain the quantity of formulated pesticide.

Record the applicator's signature and certification number where applicable as required in the private subsection. Keep the person's name and credential reference legible when transcribing a paper note. If the original signature is on a scanned sheet, identify that source rather than replacing it with an unexplained typed initial.

| Measurement | What it describes | Frequent ambiguity to resolve |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Total pesticide amount | Product used for the application | Concentrate versus diluted mixture |
| Formulated-product rate | Product per treated-area unit | Product unit and area unit |
| Tank-mix rate | Application mixture per treated-area unit | Carrier or total mixture basis |
| Treated extent | Area or other appropriate size | Whole field versus actual treatment |

The distinctions follow the private record fields in the current code. Use the application evidence to resolve them; do not fill a missing amount by copying a different job with a similar tank size. Retain the clarification supplied by the person who performed the work.

## Contractors and public applicators record a broader set of work

The commercial/public subsection covers all pesticide applications and use or disposal of pesticide rinsate. Its contents include the customer name and address, treatment location, pests controlled, start and completion time, product supplier when different from the applicator or employer, product identity, quantities, crop or commodity, equipment and applicator evidence. Do not filter this category's records to restricted-use products alone.

Prepare the customer's name and treatment location as distinct references. A billing address can differ from the place treated. Keep the supplier information where the product came from someone other than the applicator or employer, and preserve the recorded pest separately from the crop. Those fields answer different questions during a review.

For a contractor's field handover, identify which application belongs to which client and where the source document is retained. If several products were used together, keep each product identifiable. These are suggested organization practices for the data in the code, not an additional state form.

## Weather, equipment and right-of-way details

For commercial/public applications outdoors, the rule includes wind direction, estimated wind velocity and estimated outdoor temperature. It states exceptions for seed treatment, bait attracting the pest and indoor applications. Keep the actual category and setting clear before deciding which weather fields apply.

The subsection also calls for equipment description and requires right-of-way applicators to record weather conditions and geographic location in two-hour increments. A route job therefore needs a record that can preserve changes along the work, rather than only a starting address and one weather note. Retain the location reference used for each segment.

NDDA's worksheet includes Equipment Used, Wind Direction, Wind Velocity, Temperature and Field Notes. These headings can help collect the source information, but the current rule determines how the actual application category is documented. A single general-purpose form can need accompanying detail for route work or rinsate activity.

## Make the entry within twenty-four hours

The current code states the twenty-four-hour timing for the covered application or rinsate record. Build the office handover around that state requirement. Do not let the age of an older federal worksheet determine when the farm's record is prepared.

A useful editorial routine assigns responsibility for collecting the field note and resolving missing information while the work is still identifiable. Keep the actual application date and time distinct from the time the entry is made. If the office corrects a unit or location, preserve the explanation and source rather than changing the application date to match the later administrative action.

For an interrupted job, retain which sites were completed and which were planned. A postponed treatment is a planning event; the application record describes completed use. That distinction helps prevent an office transcription from turning the entire original work order into a record of pesticide actually applied.

## Client copies and the three-year archive

For commercial/public work, the rule requires providing the client a copy as soon as possible and no later than thirty days unless a signed client waiver is on file. For commercial certified RUP applications, 7 USC §136i–1(a)(2) separately requires a customer copy within 30 days and provides no waiver exception; a state waiver does not replace that copy. Keep the delivered copy and delivery evidence with those records, and use the state waiver only where it does not conflict with that federal duty. A blank assumption that a customer “does not need paperwork” is not the signed waiver described by the rule.

Century Code 4.1-33-14 sets three-year retention from the date of application, sale or purchase and requires submission of requested records to the commissioner. For the application archive, organize retrieval around the actual application date and retain the location key and units needed to interpret the record.

Try retrieving an earlier application without asking its original preparer for help. Locate the field, product identity, amount and units, person, source worksheet and contractor copy where relevant. This is an editorial archive check, not an extra legal retention period. The [retention guide](/us/how-long-must-pesticide-application-records-be-kept/) explains why state and record category remain important elsewhere in the US.

## Keep the farm's record useful beyond the form

Use the application history as the working record of actual treatments, with state-specific information and source documents organized for the responsible person. The [family-farm guide](/us/family-farm-pesticide-records/) addresses handovers, and the [inspection checklist](/us/pesticide-record-inspection-checklist/) helps prepare retrieval. Keep NDDA's form and the current North Dakota category rules as the basis of the record specification.

## Use the multiple-application columns without losing individual jobs

NDDA’s SFN 62506 groups several applications into numbered columns. Its headings include customer, legal description, pest controlled, date, start and stop times, trade name, registrant, EPA registration number, weather, product rate, crop or turf, area, equipment, applicator, certification number, signature and field notes. Preserve the column identity when a scanned form is separated into individual application files.

For a suggested transcription exercise, read a column vertically from customer to signature. Compare the legal description with the treated-area entry, then match the pesticide identity to its own rate. If a continuation sheet is used, write the source column reference on the continuation. That makes a multi-job sheet interpretable after a contractor’s office forwards only part of the original packet.

The private and commercial/public code subsections remain separate specifications. A convenient shared worksheet can contain extra headings without making every heading a legal private-applicator requirement. Conversely, the private subsection’s required total amount should remain identifiable even if a form primarily emphasizes rate per area. Compare the completed record with the applicable subsection rather than checking only whether every visible box contains writing.

## Distinguish a pesticide purchase from an application

Century Code 4.1-33-14 addresses records associated with applications, sales and purchases. The administrative chapter separately specifies dealer records and applicator records. A purchase invoice can establish what was acquired, but it is not the same event as applying a product to a particular field, bin or other site. Preserve both events with their own dates and quantities when they are relevant to your operation.

For a private farm's working archive, connect the product identity on a purchase document to the identity actually recorded at application. Keep a stock description or storage reference where useful. This is an editorial inventory-to-use connection, not a declaration that every inventory field becomes a mandatory private application field.

If a contractor supplies the product, preserve the contractor's application document and the source information needed for the farm's own record. If the farm supplies it, keep that arrangement identifiable in the service packet. The commercial/public subsection specifically addresses a supplier different from the applicator or employer.

## Document non-field locations precisely

The private subsection permits a grain-bin identifier or another description of the application location alongside legal land descriptions. Use a location directory appropriate to the actual treatment site. A bin, storage structure and field block should remain distinguishable rather than being represented only by the property's mailing address.

For a proposed internal directory, identify the physical site, familiar working name, map or property reference and any season-specific naming change. Preserve the older key with completed records after a bin is renamed or a field boundary changes. That keeps the historical location intelligible without imposing a new mapping format.

When a record uses a map attachment, identify the version and the treatment reference. A detached image with no application connection can be difficult to interpret after a file transfer. Keep its legend or explanatory note so another reader can tell which area was treated and which feature merely marks the property.

## Separate rinsate activity from the original spray job

The commercial/public subsection expressly includes the use or disposal of pesticide rinsate. Keep the relevant activity identifiable instead of treating it as an unrecorded remainder of the original tank. The rule's timing applies to the specified application or rinsate event.

For an editorial working packet, retain the source job, product identity, relevant quantity information, location and event description. Use the actual applicable directions for handling and disposal; this guide does not prescribe a disposal location or method. Keep the operational record distinct from a general equipment-cleaning checklist.

If a crew changes equipment or moves between customers, preserve which activity belongs to which location and responsible person. Do not copy the original treatment site onto a later event merely because the same sprayer was used. The record should describe what occurred rather than serve as a generic closing line for the day's work.

## Organize client delivery and waiver evidence

The state commercial/public copy provision includes a signed waiver, but the federal commercial certified RUP copy requirement still applies within 30 days. Use separate headings for delivery evidence and the actual waiver. A verbal preference, an unsigned draft and a completed signed document are different evidence states.

For a suggested dispatch register, identify the client, application reference, document version, recipient and transmission or handover reference. If several applications share one packet, list the included jobs so a customer can identify whether a requested treatment is present. Keep a corrected packet distinguishable from the earlier version it explains.

On the receiving farm, compare the contractor copy with your own location and product references before archiving. Resolve ambiguous units or a mismatched field description with the person who supplied the document. Preserve the clarification so the same discrepancy is not rediscovered during a later inspection or staff handover.

## Review quantity meanings without inventing a treatment

The current private subsection distinguishes total product information, formulated-product rate and tank-mix rate alongside treated extent. A completed record should make each meaning apparent from its headings and units. Retain the original measurement and any conversion used during transcription rather than replacing the source with an unexplained recalculated total.

For an editorial review, ask the preparer to identify which figure represents formulated pesticide and which represents diluted mixture. Then ask them to locate the treated extent supporting the rate entry. If the original note cannot answer the question, obtain clarification instead of inferring a product quantity from another application's tank capacity.

Keep estimates, measurements and later corrections distinguishable. A planning calculation describes intended quantities; a completed treatment describes actual use. The office can retain both documents without treating the estimate as the historical event. Use a clear correction note to explain a changed unit or misread numeral.

## Test retrieval against the record's legal starting date

North Dakota's statute ties retention to the application, sale or purchase date as appropriate to the record. Keep that event date in the archive index, separately from scanning, import or file-modification dates. A later migration to another program does not become the original event date.

Select an earlier application and retrieve its location key, product identities, amounts, units, applicator evidence and client document where relevant. Open the stored copies outside the original personal mailbox or working spreadsheet. This proposed archive drill can reveal missing attachments, unreadable scans, inconsistent filenames or a map legend stored in the wrong seasonal folder.

Assign each filing defect a specific correction: replace an illegible scan from the source, restore the location key, clarify the quantity unit or connect the correct client packet. Preserve the explanation with the application. The resulting archive should let a different person reconstruct the recorded work without relying on the original applicator's memory.

### What farm spray records must North Dakota private applicators keep?

Current rule 60-03-01-07 requires records of private applicators’ restricted-use pesticide applications, with the fields in its private-applicator subsection.

### How soon must a North Dakota pesticide application be recorded?

The cited rule requires the relevant record within twenty-four hours of application or use or disposal of pesticide rinsate.

### How long must North Dakota pesticide application records be kept?

Century Code 4.1-33-14 sets three years from the application, sale or purchase date for the records it covers.

### Does a North Dakota contractor have to give the client a copy?

Commercial/public records go to the client as soon as possible, no later than thirty days, unless a signed client waiver is on file. A state waiver does not replace the separate federal duty for commercial certified RUP applications: provide the copy within 30 days under 7 USC §136i–1(a)(2).

### Where is the North Dakota pesticide application record form?

NDDA provides SFN 62506, a multiple-application worksheet linked in this guide. Compare the form with the current rule for your applicator category.