For a second year, Equip Exposition's Certification Center will offer courses and education to help landscapers and contractors add valuable continuing education units (CEUs) toward maintaining their certifications.
Weed management, pesticide application, tree and plant health management, tree/shrub pruning and pesticide safety are among the courses offered.
Equip Exposition will be held Oct. 21-24, 2025 at the Kentucky Exposition Center. The award-winning and 5th largest trade show in the United States drew more than 28,500 contractors, dealers and manufacturers last year.
"About half [49 percent] of our trade show attendees work with chemical applications and over a thousand of our attendees took chemical applicator education courses during Equip last year," said Kris Kiser, president and CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), which owns Equip Exposition.
"Landscapers and contractors can take a certification class and then see the latest equipment and top solutions from exhibitors on the trade show floor," Kiser said. "Fifteen chemical application education classes are being offered this year, and more than 100 exhibits will showcase related solutions, including spreaders, fertilizers, fungicides, weed control, herbicides, insecticides and organic pest and disease control products. They can also meet and talk to other people doing these things in their businesses."
Organizers said that because Equip is loaded with education and experiences, it's important to plan ahead for time at the show and to book certification center classes now before they sell out. The easiest way to navigate the show and its 1.2 million sq. ft. of exhibits is with the Equip Expo app, sponsored by Case Construction Equipment.
The states of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio have officially provided a CEU credit sheet for the Chemical Applicator sessions and more states are pending approval. Many state certifications are managed by state agencies. As additional states recognize the quality education offered at Equip Expo and provide CEU credits, updates will be posted.
Equip will offer turfgrass sessions in both English and Spanish. Some sessions in the Certification Center are free and others are affordable at $30 or $50. Sessions are provided in partnership with The Davey Institute and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.
"These courses are offered by some of the highest quality, highest caliber people in our industry, that you will never get to see live in a room probably, unless it's at this event," said Samuel Rankin of ETCH Outdoor Living. "If we are not continually learning … we're literally going backwards…it's an opportunity for us to take that next incremental step."
Zane Raudenbush, manager of research operations, said The Davey Institute is excited to share best practices at the workshops it's organizing at the trade show.
"… we know that the best way to have a safe workforce is to ensure our employees are well-trained," Raudenbush said. "By participating in these workshops, Davey employees can collaborate with our allies in the industry to help make everyone safer and more knowledgeable."
Learning experiences at Equip Exposition can boost bottom lines for attendees.
"By learning how to implement proven turfgrass management and weed control practices, attendees will be better equipped to deliver healthier, more attractive turf for their clients," said Manuel Chavarria, assistant professor and extension in turfgrass physiology of Texas A&M University. "This leads to increased customer satisfaction, reduced callbacks and more efficient use of inputs such as water, fertilizer and herbicides, ultimately helping attendees lower operational costs and enhance their profitability,"
Admission ticket prices are $60 and go to $120 on October 20, 2025. Courses offering a CEU require an additional registration fee of $30 or $50 per class and can sell out.
For more information, visit EquipExposition.com.
