Purpose
North Carolina Cooperative Extension takes a lead role in providing education and training opportunities for animal waste management. Extension provides certification classes for operators on permitted animal farms and for technical specialists who advise and assist those operators. Extension has been the lead agency to train producers and technical specialists via continuing education classes, field days, and tours. All permitted animal waste facilities must have at least one licensed operator in charge (OIC) on the farm to ensure all rules and regulations are followed. Training for these groups is mainly done at the county level by Extension Agents assisted by specialists. This poster provides an overview of the activities of the NC Extension team towards Animal Waste Management Training.
What Did We Do?
Extension educates food animal producers through three main activities:
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- Initial OIC Class: Would-be operators attend a mandatory 10-hour class after which they sit for a 50-question exam administered by state agencies. Those passing the exam are designated as certified OICs. These classes are offered annually by county extension agents in key production counties. There are two types of OIC certification: type A certification for swine and liquid poultry systems and type B for dairy, horse, beef and other high fiber systems.
- Continuing education classes for OICs: All OIC’s must receive 6 hours of continuing education credit every 3 years. In 2024, there were 1,924 type A operators and 216 type B operators across the state. Agents and specialists provide the majority of continuing education classes for OICs either in-person or through statewide online classes. Topics include waste utilization, new technologies, safety, weather readiness, planning for extreme events and disease outbreaks, ventilation, sludge management, and many more.
- Continuing education classes for Technical Specialists: Agents and specialists also provide the majority of continuing education classes for technical specialists as part of their requirement to receive 6 hours of credit every 3 years. There is typically a yearly field day or tour participants can attend to meet this requirement. Around 30 participants usually attend.
What Have We Learned?
There are over 2,100 operators in NC who need continuing education training every 3 years. The requirement for OICs has been around since 1996. Extension agents and specialists need to work together to provide the highest caliber programs to keep producers engaged, up-to-date, and excited to learn about changes and challenges in NC. The statewide online option allows agents with less experience in animal waste topics to offer quality programs from top experts in the state and to learn about emerging practices, technologies, and recommendations. Google form surveys are used to measure knowledge gained, adoption of new practices, and recommendations on future topics. The agent-specialist group uses the recommendations from surveys to choose future topics and speakers. Surveys show that OICs are interested in these topics: irrigation calibration, crop and pasture/hayfield management including pest management, lagoon clean out and sludge management, new technologies including digesters and alternative waste facility options. Technical specialists are interested in lagoon closures, sludge management and utilization, new technology – digester, land applying to pine trees and other alternative crops.
Future Plans
NC State Extension has an animal waste workgroup which is made up of specialists and agents. This work group is allocated money each year to purchase supplies and materials that will help in programming. This group helps determine the educational needs of agents, farmers, and technical specialists in the state and works to make sure those needs are met. The group plans to continue to improve the educational courses offered and determine the best methods of communication to maximize engagement and learning. The group uses surveys to guide topic and speaker selection. Future plans include filming more videos to use in educational programs.
Authors
Presenting & Corresponding author
Becky Spearman, County Extension Director and Livestock Extension Agent North Carolina Cooperative Extension – Bladen County, becky_spearman@ncsu.edu
Additional authors
Dr. Mahmoud Sharara, Extension Specialist, North Carolina State University
Dr. Steph Kulesza, Extension Specialist, North Carolina State University
Additional Information
Department of Environmental Quality Animal OIC website
Animal Waste Manual Type A (2021)
Animal Waste Manual Type B (2017)
Q&A: Installing Anaerobic Digesters on NC Swine Farms YouTube Video
Innovation in Swine Manure Management
Acknowledgements
The following Livestock Extension Agents: Amanda Hatcher (Duplin County), Max Knowles (Sampson County), Nancy Keith (Iredell County), Stefani Sykes (Wayne County), and Kaelyn Mohrfield (Lenoir/Greene Counties)
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