Wisconsin atrazine application records have a three-year retention requirement. ATCP 30.31(5) also requires completion on the application day and lists product, applicator, location, timing, rate, treated size, and other specified information. Keep this record category separate from the ordinary two-year commercial-record baseline. DATCP's atrazine guidance confirms the longer minimum. [2][1][4]
Identify an atrazine-containing product
DATCP advises reading the product label to determine whether an herbicide contains atrazine, noting that some products include it as one of several ingredients. Preserve the full brand identity and the product document used for the application. A register organized only by an informal mixture nickname may conceal which records belong in this category. [1]
ATCP 30.31(5) applies its application record to every person applying an atrazine product. The listed product identity includes the brand name and the labeler's name or EPA registration number. Keep the actual product reference with the treatment rather than copying a similar name from an unrelated entry. [2]
For an office product directory, add a clear link to the label or source document showing the ingredient information you reviewed. Retain the directory version used for the season when a product name or supplier changes. These are organizational suggestions for identifying the record category; they do not authorize a product or prescribe its use.
Complete the application-day fields
| Required atrazine information | What to assemble |
|---|---|
| Applying person | Name of the individual who applied the product |
| Person served | Name and address when different from the applying person |
| Place and time | Treatment-site location and application date/time |
| Product identity | Brand plus labeler or EPA registration number |
| Treatment measure | Application rate and total area treated |
| Loading location | Different place used to load equipment or nurse tank |
| Field map | Map in the stated subdivided-field/different-amount situation |
These contents and the same-day completion rule come from ATCP 30.31(5). Use separate headings for the treatment site and loading location so a shared address field does not hide the distinction. Keep the product's registration reference separate from the applicator's identity. [2]
The rule pairs rate with the size of the total area treated. Preserve their units and distinguish the actual treated extent from a property description. When a note gives only an isolated number, ask the applicator whether it describes product, a rate, or area, and retain the clarification with the original note.
A different loading location needs identification
The atrazine record identifies where the product was loaded into application equipment or a nurse tank if that place differs from the application site. This is a specific location relationship in the atrazine provision. Keep enough description to distinguish a separate loading place from the treated field and from the business's general mailing address. [2]
For a multi-field job, prepare a loading-location key alongside the application references. If equipment is moved during the day's work, preserve the actual description supplied in the notes rather than automatically copying a single loading address to all entries. Keep the correspondence explaining a correction if the first note was ambiguous.
Ask a reviewer to find the treatment site and then the separate loading location using only the file. Improve any label that requires private knowledge of the operation. The key is an editorial retrieval aid for the location information required by the rule.
A subdivided field can require a map
ATCP 30.31(5)(a)9 identifies a field map under section 30.32 when a field is subdivided into smaller application sites receiving different amounts of atrazine product. Preserve the relationship between those application-site references and the rate or amount information recorded for them. [2]
Do not merge differing site entries into a single unexplained field total in the archive. Prepare a map legend showing the same names or identifiers used in the register. Keep the legend with the application year so later changes to field boundaries or working names do not erase the meaning of the record.
For an editorial reconciliation exercise, place the subdivided-field map beside the application rows and trace each site reference. Identify which value describes rate and which describes treated size. Resolve a mismatch with the application evidence before accepting a combined report or importing the data into another system.
Dates and prior field history support the record review
DATCP's atrazine guide says applications occur only from April 1 through July 31 and describes use restrictions alongside the product label. The date in the record therefore belongs to the actual application. Preserve a separate purchase date, note-receipt date, or transcription date without substituting it for the event date. [1]
The same guide explains that atrazine rates depend on soil texture and prior field use. Preserve the field-history and soil-reference documents your operation uses to explain its application records. This page supplies no rate or treatment recommendation; the documentation task is to keep the source and treatment relationship legible. [1]
DATCP's program page also provides prohibition-area resources and describes audits of agricultural fields within and outside prohibition areas. Keep the relevant location evidence with the treatment file when organizing the records for an audit. A completed application row does not itself identify whether the location falls within a prohibited area. [3]
Keep records three years from application
The atrazine provision requires each application record to be retained for three years after the application date and available for department inspection and copying on request. DATCP's general commercial-record guidance also flags three-year storage for atrazine-containing applications. [2][4]
Use an archive category that preserves this longer period when the same database also contains ordinary two-year commercial records. Keep the associated map, loading-location key, product identity, and supporting application note linked to the entry. Before retiring a season's files, review the product-category index rather than deleting records solely by the age of the folder.
The records should remain interpretable after software replacement. Preserve readable quantity headings, the site dictionary, and attachment references in a saved export. If a map uses colors or symbols, retain a legend that explains them independently of the original office layout. Record which copy represents the reviewed application information.
Distinguish the application record from customer information
For a commercial service, DATCP's ordinary guidance separately addresses information given to the customer and consent for electronic notification. Preserve the customer delivery evidence with the service record, while keeping the atrazine-specific application contents and retention category apparent. [4]
A useful handover package contains the application record, supporting field map where required, product reference, separate loading-site description, and customer-copy reference where relevant. Identify the recipient and the completed document supplied. If a correction affects a previously shared entry, preserve the correspondence identifying the corrected field and replacement copy.
Close the file with a location-to-product trace
Start the review at the map or treatment description and locate the corresponding application entry. Identify the actual applying person, product, date/time, rate, and treated size. Then find any separate loading location and the product document establishing the atrazine connection. Have a colleague repeat the exercise without an oral explanation.
Record the specific ambiguities found: a missing map legend, undefined unit, renamed field, or attachment that cannot be located. Resolve them against source documents and preserve the correction history. This proposed review concentrates on the atrazine provision's extra identification and archive requirements without turning the record into a pesticide-use recommendation.
Preserve the personnel and crop-category references
ATCP 30.31 separately identifies who may apply atrazine and who may mix or load it. Application is by a certified private applicator or an appropriately categorized certified commercial applicator. Mixing/loading also identifies the appropriately categorized certified mixer-loader route. Keep the applying person's record identity separate from any loading-person reference used in the supporting notes. [2]
The same section limits atrazine to agricultural crop sites, including forestry crops and tree plantations, and identifies non-crop sites such as road and power-line rights-of-way and industrial sites as excluded. Preserve an intelligible crop/site description in the record instead of assuming that a landowner name establishes the category. This identifies the rule's scope; it does not establish that any particular product is approved for a tree species or application. [2]
For your personnel attachment index, distinguish an individual certificate, a product label, a treatment map, and a loading-location description. A single unlabeled photograph of paperwork can obscure which person or job it concerns. Retain enough context for a replacement administrator to retrieve the correct supporting document and explain why it belongs with that application.
When handing a subdivided-field record to another reviewer, include the site legend and a short explanation of how its references correspond to the register. Preserve the source measurements and the actual product identities before preparing any summary. Record a correction to a boundary name, identifier, or document reference with the explanation supplied by the original preparer. These organizational steps concentrate the review on the specific people, places, and linked evidence in the atrazine provision.