Iowa State Offers Technical Sessions on Nutrient Management

AMES, Iowa — Iowa State University's agricultural and biosystems engineering department is offering two national courses in April for consultants working in nutrient management. The first session is the Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP) Development Course, which is scheduled for April 6-8 at the Hotel Fort Des Moines in Des Moines. This course is designed to prepare consultants for U.S. Department of Agriculture certification as a Technical Service Provider (TSP). In addition to the CNMP course, a one-day course will be offered on the Environmental Protection Agency's Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation Final Rule. This course will be held following the CNMP course on April 9 at the same location. Registration for either or both courses is open. Information about the courses, lodging and registration is available on-line at the following website: http://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/cnmp/home.html Completion of the CNMP Development Course is required to become certified as a Technical Service Provider by the Iowa State national TSP certification program. If you are interested in becoming a CNMP Technical Service Provider, certification information is available online. The 2009 CNMP Development course is based on the CNMP Core Curriculum developed under a joint effort by Iowa State, the University of Tennessee, Michigan State University, Purdue University, the University of Idaho and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The special one-day training course, Understanding and Working with Nutrient Management Plans under the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) Final Rule, was developed to address the updated requirements released on Dec. 22, 2008 for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit process. Development of a nutrient management plan remains an integral part of the NPDES permit process and is also now a requirement for the "no-discharge" certification option. Individuals working with and providing information to CAFO operators need to understand the final rule's permitting options and understand how nutrient management plan terms will become a part of the NPDES permit. This training will provide an opportunity to gain the knowledge necessary to work with CAFO operators as they make decisions about meeting requirements under the CAFO final rule on their farm.