Writer: Edith A. Chenault, (979) 845-2886, e-chenault1@tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Saqib Mukhtar, (979) 458-1019, mukhtar@tamu.edu
COLLEGE STATION – Dairy producers can now take mandatory training for confined-animal feeding operations without leaving their homes.
Environmental Quality Management of Animal Feeding Operations training is now online at http://www.peopleware.net/1542.
Dr. Saqib Mukhtar, Texas Cooperative Extension agricultural engineer, said the courses were developed by the Texas A&M University System.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requires the person who has operational responsibilities of a concentrated animal feeding operation in the dairy outreach program area to:
- Complete an initial eight-hour training course on animal waste management within 12 months of receiving a permit or authorization; and
- Receive an additional eight hours of continuing education in animal waste management for each subsequent 24-month period.
Course participants can learn about the animal waste handling, storage, treatment and utilization processes and systems, and management practices and technologies that reduce air and water pollution, Mukhtar said.
The $40 enrollment fee entitles the registrant to take any one of the 10 one-hour modules; each subsequent module costs $30.
A certificate will be issued by Extension for successful completion of each module.
All required teaching and testing can be completed from a home or office computer, so no travel is required.
The dairy outreach program area includes Bosque, Comanche, Erath, Hamilton, Hopkins, Johnson, Rains and Wood counties, Mukhtar said.
Further information is available by contacting Mukhtar at (979) 458-1019, mukhtar@tamu.edu, or Dr. Brent Auvermann, Extension agricultural engineer in Amarillo, (806) 677-5600, or b-auvermann@tamu.edu.
Reprinted from AgNews, News and Public Affairs, Texas A&M University System Agricultural Program
