Pest Management

NRCS utilizes an integrated approach to pest management. An integrated approach is one that includes field scouting, pest identification, evaluating economic thresholds, and choosing appropriate control methods. An effective pest management program will usually include more than one control method. Consideration of the impacts of mechanical, biological, and cultural controls are considered before relying on chemical controls.

Proper utilization of pest management practices has become extremely important to all of us concerning food and water quality safety. Montana has some of the most pristine water resources in the world and is home to blue-ribbon trout streams, high quality irrigation water, abundant livestock water, and precious water resources for recreational uses, household use, and aesthetics. Protection of our water resources is, therefore, vital to all of us.

Pesticide Detections in Montana Ground Water

Pest Management Conservation Practice Standards

The NRCS Electronic Field Office Technical Guide (eFOTG) provides the most current Pest Management conservation practice standards and their associated specifications. These documents, along with the Windows Pesticide Screening Tool (WIN_PST) are intended for use by those individuals (both public and private) that may develop or assist in the development of Pest Management plans.

If you encounter any problems with the files provided on this page, please contact Technical Resources at 406-587-6822.

Windows Pesticide Screening Tool (WIN_PST)

WIN_PST (Windows Pesticide Screening Tool) is designed to provide information that is needed to develop the Pest Management Component of an NRCS Conservation Plan. Any pest management plan developed by an NRCS employee, partner employee, or technical service provider (TSP) will be completed using the most current version of WIN_PST available on the NRCS National Water and Climate web site at Windows Pesticide Screening Tool (WIN_PST).

To Obtain WIN_PST Software

Access WIN_PST software from the National Water and Climate Center web site at Download WIN_PST 3.0.
If the NRCS Download Site WIN_PST does not work, use the Alternate Download Site (FTP).
Instructions for installing WIN_PST 3.0 are also found at this location.

Pesticide Data Update

The Pesticide Data utilized in WIN_PST is annually updated and contains all the pesticide database files required to operate WIN_PST software. The database update is typically available by January each year.

More About WIN_PST

WIN_PST is a pesticide environmental risk screening tool that is used to evaluate the potential for pesticides to move with water and eroded soil/organic matter and affect nontarget organisms.

WIN_PST is an easy-to-use tool for considering environmental risk when making recommendations that were previously based only on efficacy and economics. WIN-PST goes beyond previous screening tools to consider the impact of water table depth, irrigation, residue management and pesticide application area, method and rate class.

WIN_PST users can specify pesticides by product name or active ingredient. Long-term human and fish toxicity data and ratings are also included in WIN_PST. These toxicity ratings can be combined with the off-site movement potential ratings to provide an overall rating of the potential risks from pesticide movement below the root zone and past the edge of the field.

Technical Resources

Integrated Approach