Arkansas pesticide and fertilizer record rules for lawn care companies

Last reviewed October 11, 2026 · 8 min read

The short answer

In Arkansas, lawn and turf work for hire is pest control under the Arkansas Pest Control Law. Every licensed operator, qualified operator or license holder in any classification must keep a complete record of all work performed, including copies of all contracts issued, for at least two years. For restricted use pesticides the rules list the items: the name and address of the person it was applied for, the location, the size of the area treated, the site, the time and date, the brand or product name and EPA registration number, the total amount applied per location, the name and certification number of the certified applicator who made or supervised the application and the names of noncertified applicators who applied it, and the federal training records for noncertified applicators. Arkansas’s rules have no lawn sign or customer notice requirement for turf. Inside the eight nutrient surplus areas, fertilizer work takes a certified nutrient applicator and records kept five years.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change and can depend on what you apply and where. Confirm what applies to your business with the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, Pest Control Program and the product label before you rely on anything here.

Who regulates lawn care applicators

The Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Pest Control Program regulates pest control services under the Arkansas Pest Control Law (Act 488 of 1975), and anyone performing pest control for compensation must be licensed or certified. The Department counts treating lawns and turf for insect and weed pests as pest control work under that law. The law’s definition of pest control reaches weeds and plant diseases that “invade, infest, or infect shade trees, shrubs, lawns, turf, and pecan groves”, and “weed control” means preventing, destroying or removing any unwanted plant by the use of herbicides.

The Department’s pesticide applicator licenses under the separate Pesticide Use and Application Act cover agricultural, aquatic, forest, right-of-way, wood treatment and similar categories, and send structural, household, turf and ornamental (lawn care) applicators to the Pest Control Program instead. The Pest Control Rules, 2 CAR Pt. 54, were adopted by the State Plant Board under the Pest Control Law (Ark. Code § 17-37-101 et seq.) and are administered by the Department.

A license is not needed by property owners treating their own property or by employees treating their employer’s property, unless they use restricted use pesticides. The Program inspects lawn and turf applications, equipment, vehicles and facilities, and investigates complaints and pesticide misuse. Enforcement follows a penalty matrix and can bring a civil penalty and/or license suspension, revocation, nonrenewal or registration cancellation; use of a pesticide inconsistent with its labeling is grounds for denial, suspension or invalidation of a license, certificate or agent registration.

Separately, the State Plant Board’s Arkansas Rules on Pesticide Use put every registered pesticide in a class from A to J, with 2,4-D and MCPA products in Class F, dicamba products in Class H and quinclorac in Class I, each class carrying extra use restrictions on top of the label. Except as the Pesticide Use and Application Act allows, no city, county or other political subdivision may adopt an ordinance, rule or regulation on the use or application of pesticides; ordinances adopted before March 1, 1993 are not affected.

Sources: Arkansas Department of Agriculture: Pest Control Program, Arkansas Department of Agriculture: Firm Commercial Applicator License, Arkansas Department of Agriculture: Individual Commercial and Non-Commercial Applicator License, 2 CAR Pt. 54 Pest Control Rules (Code of Arkansas Rules; Subparts 1–14, read section by section), Arkansas Department of Agriculture: Rules (list of the Department’s rules by program), 2 CAR Pt. 70 Arkansas Rules on Pesticide Use (pesticide Classes A–J), Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated, Code of Arkansas Public Access (LexisNexis, linked from the Department’s Pest Control Program page): search-result text of Ark. Code §§ 17-37-102, 17-37-207, 17-37-210, 17-37-217, 17-37-221, 20-20-203 and 20-20-226

Licenses you need

Classifications: the commercial pest control classifications for lawn and landscape work are Classification 4, Tree and turf pest control; Classification 5, Weed control; and Classification 6, Golf course pest control.
The business is licensed in the firm’s name, and it must itself be, or must employ, at least one commercial applicator (licensed operator) licensed for each classification of work it provides. A business may operate for a time without a commercial applicator only with general use pesticides.
Supervision: the business’s commercial applicators must keep direct supervision over all of its pest control services, and no commercial applicator may supervise more than 30 registered agents. For Classifications 4, 5 and 6 the commercial applicator is considered in charge of all the work done and must be readily available.
A commercial applicator’s license becomes invalid when they stop being a license holder or stop being employed by one, until they are employed by a license holder again.
Exams: pass the Basic Core exam and the classification exam; passing scores are 70% for Basic Core, 75% for Classification 4 (ornamental tree and turf) and 70% for Classification 5 (weed control). Exam fees are $100 per classification and $30 for the registered agent exam, and the exam application must reach the Department at least five working days before the exam. Applicants must be at least 18 years old.
Fees and renewal: the business license costs $100 for 0–30 registered agents, $250 for 31–60 and $500 for 61 or more; a commercial applicator license costs $150 for the first classification and $100 for each additional one, at most $300; agent registration renews at $30. All must be renewed before June 30 each year.
Recertification: commercial and noncommercial applicator certification expires three years after issue unless the applicator attends a University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service–approved program and files proof of attendance with the State Plant Board; otherwise they must be reexamined or lose the license or certificate.
Noncommercial work done only for one’s own employer takes a noncommercial certificate (Classification 9, noncommercial tree and turf; Classification 10, noncommercial golf course).
Office addresses: the business must register, on the Department’s forms, the physical address of each office it works from, counting any location (other than service vehicles) where pesticides are stored or distributed.
Vehicles: the license holder’s name must be shown, in letters at least two inches high, on both sides of all motor equipment that requires a state vehicle license; vehicles used only for sales or soliciting are excepted.
Bond, insurance and contracts: the rules and the law set bond and insurance requirements, and contract duties, for the structural classifications, not for the turf classifications.

Agents: the business must register with the Department every person it employs to perform pest control services, including salespeople (clerical staff excluded), only in the classifications the business is licensed for. A new agent must get on-the-job training within 20 working days of employment and take the agent exam within 45 working days; until registered, a trainee may apply pesticides only in the physical presence of a commercial applicator or registered agent. Training is 40 hours of verifiable on-the-job training under a qualified trainer, documented on the Department’s form with the names of trainee and trainer, the dates and the hours worked each date. Registered agents need at least 6 hours of continuing education each year, may not apply pesticides or be in sole possession of them while under 18, and the business keeps their training records for as long as each agent is employed.

Sources: 2 CAR Pt. 54 Pest Control Rules (Code of Arkansas Rules; Subparts 1–14, read section by section), Arkansas Department of Agriculture: Pest Control Program, Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated, Code of Arkansas Public Access (LexisNexis, linked from the Department’s Pest Control Program page): search-result text of Ark. Code §§ 17-37-102, 17-37-207, 17-37-210, 17-37-217, 17-37-221, 20-20-203 and 20-20-226

What to record for each application

The Pest Control Law requires each licensed operator, qualified operator or license holder in any classification to keep a complete record of all work performed, including copies of all contracts issued, and to make it available to the State Plant Board or its representatives after reasonable notice during normal business hours. That duty covers every job, general use as well as restricted use; the law lists no items for it beyond the kinds, amounts, uses, dates and addresses of applications of restricted use pesticides. Falsifying records, or failing to keep or make available the records the law requires, is grounds for invalidating or not renewing a license.

For restricted use pesticides, 2 CAR § 54-212(c) lists what the business’s record holds:

The name and address of the person for whom the restricted use pesticide was applied
The location of the application
The size of the area treated
The crop, commodity, stored product or site to which it was applied
The time and date of the application
The brand or product name and the EPA registration number
The total amount applied per location per application
The name and certification number of the certified applicator who made or supervised the application and, if applicable, the name of each noncertified applicator who applied it under that applicator’s direct supervision
The records required under 40 C.F.R. § 171.201(e): for each noncertified applicator who uses restricted use pesticides under direct supervision, a record of how they qualified (if trained: their printed name and signature, the date, the trainer and the title of the training), made before they apply

The pesticide classes add their own records. Class H covers only dicamba products packaged in containers of more than one quart and labeled for agricultural use; turf applications of dicamba are allowed year round, and its application record reaches turf work only when such a product is used. Class F covers all 2,4-D and MCPA products, lawn three-way mixes among them: no Class F product may be applied within one-fourth mile of susceptible crops, esters other than low-volatile esters are prohibited, and its text says the wind during application may not exceed 8 mph, the temperature may not exceed 90°F, and temperature measurements taken under its inversion rule must be kept. Class A requires documentation of equipment set-up on the Department’s forms. We could not confirm whether the Department applies these Class F and Class A conditions, written around fields and crops, to lawn work.

Sources: Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated, Code of Arkansas Public Access (LexisNexis, linked from the Department’s Pest Control Program page): search-result text of Ark. Code §§ 17-37-102, 17-37-207, 17-37-210, 17-37-217, 17-37-221, 20-20-203 and 20-20-226, 2 CAR Pt. 54 Pest Control Rules (Code of Arkansas Rules; Subparts 1–14, read section by section), 40 C.F.R. § 171.201 Requirements for direct supervision of noncertified applicators by certified applicators (eCFR), 2 CAR Pt. 70 Arkansas Rules on Pesticide Use (pesticide Classes A–J)

How long to keep records and who can ask for them

Keep the record of all work performed, and pesticide records, for at least two years.
Make the records available to the State Plant Board or its representatives after reasonable notice during normal business hours.
Keep the records of noncertified applicators’ qualifications available at the principal place of business for two years.
The rule sets no deadline for making the record and grants no customer a right to a copy.
The Department may investigate complaints against license holders and cancel licenses for fraud, misrepresentation, failure to carry out promises, use of improper methods or materials, or other reasons in the law.

Customer notice, posting and lawn signs

The Pest Control Rules and the State Plant Board’s pesticide use and applicator rules contain no lawn sign, posting, customer notice or neighbor notice requirement for turf applications, and searches of the Arkansas Code found none either. Label-required posting still applies.

The Department points applicators to FieldWatch, a free, voluntary registry that maps crop growers, beekeepers and seed companies for pesticide applicators; it is not a notice requirement.

Sources: 2 CAR Pt. 54 Pest Control Rules (Code of Arkansas Rules; Subparts 1–14, read section by section), 2 CAR Pt. 70 Arkansas Rules on Pesticide Use (pesticide Classes A–J), 2 CAR Pt. 72 Rules under Act 389 of 1975 as Amended (Pesticide Applicators), Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated, Code of Arkansas Public Access (LexisNexis, linked from the Department’s Pest Control Program page): search-result text of Ark. Code §§ 17-37-102, 17-37-207, 17-37-210, 17-37-217, 17-37-221, 20-20-203 and 20-20-226, Arkansas Department of Agriculture: Pesticides

Fertilizer rules

Arkansas’s Fertilizer Program requires every fertilizer brand sold in the state to be registered ($25 per brand) and every place that mixes, blends or stores fertilizer to hold a facility license ($50 per location), both renewed by June 30 each year; registrants report tonnage monthly, by the 20th of the following month, with a fee of $2.40 per ton. The fertilizer rules set no applicator license, application record, phosphorus or nitrogen limit, blackout dates or setbacks for lawns.

The limits that reach lawns are in the nutrient surplus areas. Arkansas law declares eight watersheds nutrient surplus areas: the Illinois River (Benton, Washington and Crawford counties), Spavinaw Creek, Honey Creek and Little Sugar Creek (Benton County), the upper Arkansas River (Lee Creek in Crawford and Washington counties and Massard Creek in Sebastian County), the Poteau River (Scott, Sebastian and Polk counties), the Mountain Fork of the Little River (Polk County) and the upper White River above Crooked Creek.

Within a nutrient surplus area no one may apply nutrients, commercial fertilizer included, except under a nutrient management plan prepared by a certified planner or at the protective rate for commercial fertilizers.
The protective rate of phosphorus fertilizer for grasses and clover is 80 lb P2O5 per acre at a low soil test P (0–50 lb/acre), 40 at a medium one (50–100), and 0 at a high one (over 100) or when the soil test P is not known. For nitrogen it is 80 lb N per acre for warm season grasses and 45–50 lb for cool season grasses, with 50–60 lb N per acre added as needed.
A soil test is required before applying a fertilizer containing phosphorus at the protective rate; a fertilizer with nitrogen but no phosphorus may be applied without one.
Nutrients must be spread evenly and not applied when the soil is saturated, frozen, or covered with ice or snow, or in any way that lets excessive nutrients enter state waters or run onto adjacent property.
Anyone applying nutrients in a nutrient surplus area must be a certified nutrient applicator (required since January 1, 2006), or work under one’s direction and control; no certification is needed outside those areas. Commercial certification takes a training course, a passing exam score, a $60 certification fee and a $25 testing fee, lasts five years, and renews for $60 with at least four hours of approved continuing education. Address changes are reported within 15 working days.
A certified nutrient applicator keeps, for at least five years, records by field of the type and amount of nutrients applied, their source, the field’s location, the date, the application rate, the name and address of the person or business for whom they were applied, and the cover vegetation, and a commercial nutrient applicator gives the landowner a copy of the application record. These records are not public records.
On residential lands of 2.5 acres or less in a nutrient surplus area, nutrients must stay at or below the protective rate; no plan is required, and a landowner or resident applying them need not be certified but must keep documentation of each application for five years.

Sources: Arkansas Department of Agriculture: Fertilizer, 2 CAR Pt. 26 Fertilizer Rules, 15 CAR Pt. 6 Arkansas Soil Nutrient and Poultry Litter Application and Management Program, 15 CAR Pt. 6, Appendix B, Protective Rate Tables for Application of Commercial Fertilizers (PDF from the Code of Arkansas Rules), 15 CAR Pt. 5 Arkansas Nutrient Management Applicator Certification Program, Arkansas Department of Agriculture: Nutrient Management Program

How GroundsQuote’s chemical records line up

GroundsQuote keeps an application record for each chemical a crew puts down on a job. On a job at a property in Arkansas, Finish job asks the crew for the details Arkansas lists, and the records export with the columns in Arkansas’s order. Here is each item Arkansas lists, set against what the record actually holds. Keeping the record complete and correct is still your responsibility.

Arkansas record items and GroundsQuote’s chemical application record
Arkansas asks for	In GroundsQuote	Status
Complete record of all work performed, any classification, kept 2 years	Every job’s record: when, where, chemicals, amounts and who applied them, with corrections kept as history	Recorded
Copies of all contracts issued	The accepted quote; signed contracts can be kept beside the records with a copy of the paper	Partly
RUP: name and address of the person for whom applied	Customer name and mailing address	Recorded
RUP: location of the application	Address, unit, city, state, ZIP and county	Recorded
RUP: size of the area treated	Area treated (sq ft)	Recorded
RUP: crop, commodity, stored product or site	Where on the property (front lawn, beds, fence line… or a description), set on the job; required on Arkansas restricted use lines	Recorded
RUP: time and date	Date and time applied	Recorded
RUP: brand or product name and EPA registration number	Product name and EPA Reg. No., as entered in the chemical’s setup	Recorded
RUP: total amount applied per location per application	Total used	Recorded
RUP: name and certification number of the certified applicator who made or supervised it; names of noncertified applicators	Applied by and Supervised by (offered on Arkansas jobs), with each person’s license and certification or ID number and standing when license-keeping is switched on	Recorded
RUP: noncertified applicator training records (40 C.F.R. § 171.201(e))	Training and ID records for each person, with a copy of the paper	Partly
Agent on-the-job training form and continuing education records	Training and ID records for each person; GroundsQuote does not count hours or fill the Department’s form	Partly
Class F (2,4-D), if applied to lawn work: temperature measurements	Weather station temperature at start and finish, and the on-site reading	Partly
Class A, if applied to lawn work: equipment set-up documentation	Equipment used, set on the job; no set-up form	Partly
Class H (agricultural-use dicamba over 1 qt only): wind at start and end, instrument, nearest town, GPS of the entrance, equipment number, vehicle operator	Station readings at start and finish, one on-site wind reading, address and county, equipment used, vehicle or sprayer license plate and who applied it; no nearest town, GPS of an entrance or Department equipment number	Partly
Nutrients (surplus areas): type, amount, source, location, date and rate	Product, N-P-K, total used, lb of N and P per 1,000 sq ft, rate applied, address, county and date	Recorded
Nutrients: name and address of the person or business for whom applied	Customer name and mailing address	Recorded
Nutrients: cover vegetation by field	Where on the property (free text)	Partly
Nutrients: copy of the application record to the landowner	An application statement to print, leave or email; it is not the record itself and is not sent unless you send it	Partly

On Arkansas jobs GroundsQuote keeps a record of every application and asks for the site on restricted use lines. GroundsQuote does not know whether a property lies in a nutrient surplus area or check the protective rate, soil test, frozen-ground rule, the Class F wind and temperature limits or the quarter-mile distance from crops. Licensing, agent registration, training hours, recertification, nutrient applicator certification, vehicle lettering and signed contracts are yours to keep outside GroundsQuote.

Everything a GroundsQuote application record holds

When:: Date and time applied (when the job was finished), job start and finish times (the office can correct them), each chemical’s own start and finish when several go down on one job, and when people may go back onto the lawn (from the label’s re-entry interval)
Where:: Customer name, phone and mailing address, street address, unit number, city, state, ZIP and county of the property, and where on the property it went (front lawn, beds, fence line…)
Who:: Everyone who applied it (the crew riding that day starts checked) and the person supervising, trainees and people who planned it, with each one’s standing (certified, registered technician, trained, not certified or registered), license number, certification or ID number, category and expiry, and the business license when license-keeping is switched on
Product:: Name, type, manufacturer, EPA registration number, state registration number, EUP / Section 18 / 24(c) number, active ingredients, scientific name, concentration, N-P-K and slow-release %, formulation, restricted-use flag, signal word, re-entry interval, the label’s precautions, and copies of the label, safety data sheet and fact sheets on file
Amounts:: Rate applied (per area), area treated in sq ft, total product used, mix ratio, use dilution (%), water or carrier (gallons, and the carrier when it is not water), gallons of mix applied, devices placed, lb of N and P per 1,000 sq ft
Job:: Target pest and the equipment used (both set on the job), the vehicle or sprayer’s license plate, where it was mixed and loaded, permit number, other records the label requires, the supervisor’s instructions, whether the drift plan was used, a review sign-off with the reviewer’s license number and corrective action, a map of the treated area attached to the job, service and crew; your business name, address and phone
Weather:: From the nearest weather station at the start and finish (temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, gusts, rain in the last hour, conditions), and the conditions on site: the crew confirms the station reading or enters the wind, direction and temperature they measured
Your state:: Each job follows the rules of the state its property is in: Finish job asks for the details that state lists and waits until they are filled in, and the records export in that state’s column order
Paperwork:: An application statement for each job to print, leave or email (each product with its EPA number, active ingredients, type, purpose, rate, amount and mix, where on the property, the date and time, who applied it, the re-entry time and your notes for the customer, with the state’s own lines), and lawn signs laid out from the state’s rule
Kept beside the records:: Each person’s training, ID copies and certificates and what they are responsible for; neighbor requests and notices, registry notices and attempts, notices given to customers, signed waivers and contracts, each with a copy of the paper; soil tests per property; incidents, disposal and purchases in the chemical logs; totals for a year or a month by county, supervisor or product; whether a customer agreed in writing to get application information by email
Changes:: Corrections are saved as history; the earlier record is kept
Reminders:: Finish job reminds the crew of the state’s own steps (a record deadline, trainee paperwork) and warns when a restricted-use chemical has nobody certified applying or supervising it; the schedule lists chemical jobs left without a record in states with a deadline

See how it works on the job in chemical records and field tools, or read about GroundsQuote for lawn treatment companies.

Official sources

Everything on this page comes from these Arkansas sources, checked on October 11, 2026. Read them for the full text and any changes since.

Keep application records as the crew finishes the job

Set the chemicals each service uses once. The crew sees the planned amounts for each lawn, and finishing the job saves the record with the product, rate, area, applicator and weather.

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Questions

Do I need records for general use products, or only restricted use?

Both, in different ways. The Pest Control Law requires every license holder in any classification to keep a complete record of all work performed, including copies of contracts, for at least two years. The itemized list in 2 CAR § 54-212(c) applies to restricted use pesticides.

Which license covers lawn care in Arkansas?

Lawn and turf work for hire is pest control under the Arkansas Pest Control Law, licensed by the Department of Agriculture’s Pest Control Program. The classifications for lawn and landscape work are Classification 4, Tree and turf pest control; Classification 5, Weed control; and Classification 6, Golf course pest control.

How long do I keep pesticide records?

At least two years, available to the State Plant Board or its representatives after reasonable notice during normal business hours.

Do I need lawn signs or to notify customers in Arkansas?

Does Arkansas limit lawn fertilizer?

Only in the eight nutrient surplus areas the law names. There, nutrients go down only under a nutrient management plan or at the protective rate, a soil test comes before phosphorus, the applicator must be certified, and records are kept at least five years. The fertilizer rules set no lawn limits elsewhere.