AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources will conduct a Commercial Manure Applicator training on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019. Commercial manure applicators can attend the annual training to meet commercial manure applicator certification requirements.
The training will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at 76 locations in Iowa and one location in Minnesota. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. There is no fee for the workshop, but applicators must register by Dec. 26 with the ISU Extension and Outreach county office where they plan to attend. A complete list of workshop locations can be found at http://www.agronext.iastate.edu/immag/.
Commercial manure applicators needing to recertify and those wanting to certify for the first time should attend. All currently certified commercial manure applicator licenses will expire on March 1, 2019. Those wanting to renew must complete training requirements and submit forms and fees to the DNR prior to March 1 in order to avoid paying late fees. The law requires all commercial manure applicators to attend three hours of training annually to meet certification requirements. Businesses that primarily truck or haul manure of any type or from any source are also required to meet certification requirements.
Those unable to attend the program on Jan. 3 need to schedule time with their ISU Extension and Outreach county office to watch the training video. Due to scheduling conflicts, many extension offices will no longer accept walk-in appointments to watch the video, but do offer scheduled dates and times to provide this training. If you can’t attend training during one of the scheduled reshow dates at your county extension office, you will be charged a $10 fee to view the training at your convenience.
If attending the workshops or watching the three-hour video is not convenient, commercial applicators may contact their local DNR field office to schedule an appointment to take the certification exam. Another option for commercial manure applicators is to 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.
In addition to the commercial manure applicator training offered on Jan. 3, ISU Extension and Outreach will also offer six dry/solid manure workshops for commercial manure applicators in February 2019. Information regarding these workshops and locations is also contained in the link to the brochure listed above. Program requirements are the same as the regular commercial training program, but this training program is geared more toward dry/solid manure issues.
For questions about the commercial manure applicator certification program, contact your ISU Extension and Outreach county office or visit http://www.agronext.iastate.edu/immag/mac.html.