New Curriculum For Certified Livestock Manager Training

Randy Fonner; (217) 333-2611; refonner@uiuc.edu;
Ted Funk; (217) 333-9313; funkt@uiuc.edu
Writer: Leanne Lucas; (217) 244-9085. llucas@uiuc.edu

The Livestock and Poultry Environmental Stewardship (LPES) Curriculum will be the textbook of choice in this year’s Certified Livestock Managers Training Workshops. More than 30 experts from 15 land-grant universities, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Agricultural Research Service have developed, reviewed and tested the national core curriculum that will be used in the Illinois state-mandated livestock manager training. “We had a very good base of knowledge in our previous manual,” said Ted Funk, agricultural engineer and creator of the Certified Livestock Managers Training Workshop. “But now we’ve expanded that base. We have authors from all over the United States. The LPES curriculum has given us new material and increased our confidence in our training.” The LPES curriculum was also approved by a variety of agencies and organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the American Farm Bureau, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the National Pork Board.

Randy Fonner, Extension specialist and coordinator of the workshops, believes the release of the LPES curriculum comes at an opportune time. In December of this year, the EPA will issue new regulations for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. “This curriculum explains the science behind specific issues and practices,” he said. “It will help producers understand the reasons for so many rules changes.”

Since the Livestock Management Facilities Act was passed in Illinois in May of 1996, certification in livestock manure management is required for producers with more than 300 animal units, and must be renewed every three years. For certification, producers with 300 to 999 animal units can choose from three options:

• Attend a Certified Livestock Managers Training Workshop.
• Take a series of six quizzes on the Internet at www.livestocktraining.com.
• Pass the written exam given by the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Producers with more than 1000 animal units must attend the workshop or take the quizzes and pass the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s written exam. The questions for the online quizzes and the written exam are currently being re-written from the LPES curriculum. (See Educational Opportunities for a list of workshops available close to you.)