Confinement Site Manure Applicator workshops scheduled for early 2020

Confinement site manure applicators and anyone interested in learning about manure issues should plan to attend a two-hour workshop offered by Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach in January or February 2020. These workshops are offered in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). There is no fee to attend the workshops, but applicators will need to pay certification fees to complete certification requirements.

“Iowa law requires confinement site manure applicators to attend two hours of continuing education each year of their three-year certification period or take and pass an exam once every three years,” said Dan Andersen, associate professor, ISU Ag and Biosystems Engineering and coordinator of the manure applicator certification program.

A total of 67 counties will participate in the confinement site manure applicator workshops. In addition, a series of six dry/solid manure applicator certification meetings will be held in February. ISU Extension and Outreach county offices have a complete list of workshop dates and locations, or view a list at http://www.agronext.iastate.edu/immag/certification/confinementsitebroch....

The Allamakee County Extension Office in Waukon will be hosting one of the workshops January 29 at 1:30 p.m. Call 563-568-6345 for information or to register.

The workshops serve as initial certification for those applicators not currently certified, recertification for those renewing licenses and continuing education for those applicators in their second or third year of their license.

Due to uniform certification deadlines, applicators are encouraged to attend workshops prior to March 1 to avoid being assessed a late fee for those who are re-certifying. Those unable to attend one of the workshops need to schedule time with their ISU Extension county office to watch the training video. Due to scheduling conflicts, many extension offices will no longer accept walk-in appointments to watch these videos, but do offer scheduled dates and times to provide this training.

Those who can’t attend training during one of the scheduled reshow dates at their county extension office will be charged a fee to view the training at their convenience. If attending the workshops or watching the two-hour training video is not convenient, confinement site manure applicators may contact their local DNR field office to schedule an appointment to take the certification exam to meet certification requirements.

The 2020 Confinement site program will include rules for applicators as well as land-application and setback distance requirements, water quality, evaluating manure storage structures, hydrogen sulfide safety, and swine manure deep-pit foaming.

Applicators also have another option, online certification, through which an applicator can take their training online at the DNR MAC eLearning site at https://elearning-dnr.iowa.gov/. The applicator will need to sign-in and get an A&A account.

Contact an ISU Extension county office for more information about the Manure Applicator Certification Program or visit http://www.agronext.iastate.edu/immag/mac.html.