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Educational opportunities coming to area producers

Beef Quality Assurance Certification Meeting Set

As of Jan. 1, major industry buyers such as Tyson Fresh Meats, JBS, Cargill, and Greater Omaha began requiring sellers of finished fat cattle to be Beef Quality Assurance certified. However, all who handle and manage fed cattle are encouraged to become BQA certified on a voluntary basis.

The BQA program is a producer driven program in which cattle producers, from the cow-calf producer to the feedlot sector, assume responsibility for producing beef that is a healthy, wholesome, quality product and free from defects such as injection-site lesions and bruises.

Based on local interest generated from surveys, Pierce County Extension will be hosting a BQA certification meeting on Thursday, Feb. 28 at Rugby Livestock Auction. The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. The event is free of charge and certification is good for a 3-year period. A chili lunch will also be served. RSVP’s are kindly requested for material and meal planning purposes.

2019 Private Pesticide Applicator Certification

This year’s Pierce County private applicator pesticide certification trainings will again require pre-registration for the session an expiring applicator plans to attend. The Pierce County Extension office implemented the pre-registration system in 2015 and will continue to do so moving forward. This process greatly helps trainings run more smoothly in addition to ensuring adequate space and materials for attendees.

Expiring applicators in our county database will be mailed a notice of their expiring certificates and a list of local training dates during the week of Jan. 15. Expiring applicators will need to choose the training they will attend and submit that to the Pierce County Extension office. Applicators can also register for Pierce County pesticide trainings online. A link and more information will be included with notification letters.

There will be no walk-ins unless there has been a cancellation or no-show.

New applicators should call the Extension office to let us know which training they will be attending. The testing period for all new applicators will be March 21 at 10:30 a.m. at the Pierce County Courthouse.

The certification fee is $30. Checks are payable to the NDSU Extension Service. Currently, certifications are good for 3 years and expire on April 1 of the third year.

Pierce County private applicator certification meetings will be held in Rugby to recertify or certify on the following dates:

– Thursday, February 21 – 1 to 5 p.m. at Farm Credit Services – check-in @ 12:30 p.m.

– Wednesday, March 20 – 1 to 5 p.m. at Farm Credit Services – check-in @ 12:30 p.m.

For those re-certifying, who are unable to attend one of these meetings, there is the option of attending a meeting in another county. A list of known training dates and locations in other counties will be included in the notification letters sent out to expiring applicators earlier this week. As always, applicators continue to have the option of taking an open book test in lieu of attending a training meeting. The private general applicator certification fee is still $30.

For questions, to find out about trainings in other counties or to schedule a time to take the test please call the Pierce County Extension office at 776-6234 ext. 5 or email NDSU.Pierce.Extension@ndsu.edu.

Design Your Succession Plan

County agents from Pierce, McHenry and Bottineau counties will be offering a Design Your Succession Plan workshop series in the tri-county area Feb. 25, March 4 and March 11.

– Session 1, Monday, Feb. 25, 2019 – 6 p.m. @ Pierce County Courthouse, Rugby

– Session 2, Monday, March 4 – 6 p.m. @ McHenry County Courthouse, Towner

– Session 3, Monday, March 11 – 6 p.m. at Bottineau County Courthouse, Bottineau

* Please note that attendance is required at all three sessions. A light meal will be provided at each location.

Design Your Succession Plan is a multi-session workshop to help farm and ranch families:

– Get started on a succession plan using a workbook during and after the workshop

– Open lines of communication with family to create a shared vision for the family business

– Work with professionals to construct a plan and documents to put the family’s vision into action

Please call the McHenry County Extension office at 537-5405 to register for the Design Your Succession Plan workshop series.

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