Big Sky Times

The Montana Department of Agriculture (MDA) has announced pesticide disposal events for 2025. These events will take place in two phases: spring and summer. The spring events are scheduled from April 1 to April 3, 2025, in Kalispell, Plains, and Drummond. The summer events will occur from June 30 to July 2, 2025, in Polson, Hamilton, and Butte.

These initiatives are part of the Montana Pesticide Stewardship Partnership Program (MT PSPP), which aims to improve health and water quality in the upper Columbia River Basin. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Columbia River Basin Restoration Funding Assistance Program supports these efforts.

Since its inception in 1994, the annual pesticide waste collection program has gathered nearly 780,000 pounds of waste from over 1,800 participants. Carli Davis from MDA's Pesticide Disposal and Container Recycling Programs emphasized that "Montana has limited options" for pesticide disposal and highlighted the program's role in ensuring environmentally friendly disposal methods.

The MDA's program assists individuals with disposing of unusable pesticides responsibly. It aims to protect ecosystems, groundwater, families, pets, livestock, and drinking water from hazardous materials.

For the spring event, pre-registration ends on March 25, 2025. For the summer event, it ends on June 23, 2025. Registration is first-come-first-serve with no charge for the first 200 pounds of material; excess amounts incur a fee of $1 per pound. Additional fees may apply for certain pesticides.

Interested parties can register on the Montana Waste Pesticide Disposal Program page at agr.mt.gov or contact Carli Davis at (406) 465-0531 for more information.

The Montana Department of Agriculture continues to serve Montana agriculture under the Big Sky by providing various programs and services detailed at agr.mt.gov.

Information from this article can be found here.