A campaign looking at pesticide use in North-West NSW has found most farmers and landholders are complying with state's environmental laws, but some sprayers need to keep better records.
The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) assessed pesticide users in Moree, Narrabri, Walgett, Warren, Liverpool Plains, Gunnedah, Warrumbungle Shire, Coonabarabran and Gilgandra local government areas (LGAs).
The campaign resulted in 19 advisory letters and eight formal warnings being issued to landholders and sprayers who were found to have minor breaches of the Pesticides Act.
NSW EPA Director of Operations Julian Thompson said EPA officers had reviewed nearly 170 spray records from properties that had used pesticides, herbicides and insecticides during December 2025.
"This was a very precise campaign looking at people who use pesticides on their own properties to determine if they are preventing off-target impacts, such as spray drift," Mr Thompson said.
"In NSW, landowners can legally apply pesticides to their own land using ground-based spraying equipment without an EPA licence – but they still need to comply with the rules.
"In good news, everyone we contacted had completed the required training, and most people were applying pesticides in accordance with the product label.
"Label conditions should never be ignored – they are legally binding settings that prevent off-target impacts from these chemicals, protecting the environment and the community from harm.
"The formal warnings were primarily issued to people with poor record-keeping practices, such as failing to record the full product name of the chemical used, or missing details about spray areas, dates and weather conditions.
"Keeping up-to-date records isn't just an administrative task – it's an important risk management tool that allows the EPA to investigate compliance with the Pesticides Act."
This campaign was informed by insights from previous EPA pesticide compliance campaigns undertaken in the Central West and North West of NSW since 2017.
