Prairie State Wire

The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) and the University of Illinois Extension have announced the Certified Livestock Manager Training (CLMT) for 2024. This year, livestock producers in Illinois can choose between eight in-person workshops and an online training option to fulfill the manure management training requirements mandated by the state's Livestock Management Facilities Act.

"This partnership between IDOA and the University of Illinois Extension provides the tools, education, and training for our state's certified livestock managers to become skilled in best management practices," stated IDOA Director Jerry Costello II. He also emphasized efforts to increase accessibility through bilingual options: "I am extremely proud of the Department and University for its steps to increase accessibility by including bilingual options to ensure everyone on the farm has the ability to learn and implement these tools to become good stewards of the land."

In-person workshop registration opens on December 1, 2023, at go.illinois.edu/CLMT, with a fee of $70. The workshops will be held at various locations across Illinois from January 30 to February 8, beginning at 9:00 a.m. each day and lasting three and a half hours. Participants will use the "Livestock and Poultry Environmental Stewardship Curriculum" manual available online.

For those opting for online training, nine modules consisting of short videos are accessible via Moodle through the CLMT webpage. Producers with more than 1,000 Animal Units (AU) must complete lessons and pass an exam available both online and in-person in English or Spanish.

The certification exams consist of 50 questions requiring a minimum score of 70% to pass. For facilities with over 300 animal units, having certified personnel is mandatory under the Livestock Management Facilities Act.

Questions about the program can be directed to Stanley Solomon at jssolomon@illinois.edu or by calling (815) 235-4125.