“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 the exam once every three years,” said Dan Andersen, associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering and extension agriculture engineering specialist at Iowa State University, and coordinator of the manure applicator certification program. “If applicators fail to attend the two hours of continuing education each year, they will be required to pass a written exam to be eligible to recertify.”
Each year, nearly 300 confinement site applicators fail to attend training and must pass the remedial exam prior to being eligible to renew their certification for the following year.
The workshop serves as initial certification for those applicators not currently certified, recertification for those renewing licenses, and as continuing education for those applicators in the second or third year of their license.
The 2025 confinement site program will include rules for applicators, as well as land-application and setback distance requirements, soil compaction, cereal rye affecting nitrogen cycling, a national manure nutrient database, and viable rate systems.
Operators must be certified to handle, transport, and apply manure if the confinement livestock operation has more than a 500-animal unit capacity, unless the manure is applied by a commercial manure applicator. The certification fee is $100 for a three-year certificate. This fee is paid when applicators initially get certified and then every three years thereafter when they re-certify to apply manure.
Confinement site applicators are also required to pay an annual education fee of $25. All fees and application forms must be sent to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to complete certification requirements.
ISU Extension and Outreach will charge a $10 fee to applicators choosing to view the certification materials on a non-scheduled reshow day at the county office. For this reason, all applicators are encouraged to attend the workshops or to plan to view training materials on the scheduled reshow date at their local county extension office. This fee will not apply to workshops or scheduled reshow dates. Contact the county extension office to determine which days are scheduled for the manure applicator certification programs.
Applicators have another online certification option. Applicators can take their training at the DNR MAC Workday site at www.IowaDNR.gov/MAC. Applicators will need to sign-in and create a Workday account.
Applicators are encouraged to complete certification requirements annually prior to March 1 to meet certification deadlines and avoid being assessed a $12.50 late fee for re-certification.
For more information about meeting dates and locations, or to schedule an appointment to attend training, contact the ISU Extension and Outreach – Floyd County Office at 641-228-1453 or visit https://www.extension.iastate.edu/immag/confinement-site-applicators to see the 2025 workshop schedule.
Source : iastate.edu