USDA SIGNS TECHNICAL SERVICE PROVIDER AGREEMENT WITH THE AMERICAN REGISTRY OF PROFESSIONAL ANIMAL SCIENTISTS

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2004—The U.S. Department of Agriculture signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS) offering landowners the option to obtain conservation technical assistance in feed management from certified technical service providers.

“This partnership will provide a much needed service for landowners who need technical assistance with nutrition for their livestock,” said Bruce Knight, chief of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. “ARPAS-certified professionals formulate diets that increase the animals’ production levels but also reduce manure nutrients. The animal nutritionist’s goal is to assist the landowner without hurting the viability of the farm operation.”

The 2002 Farm Bill expanded the availability of technical assistance to private landowners by encouraging the use of technical service providers to assist USDA in delivering conservation technical assistance services to farmers, ranchers and others.

Knight, ARPAS President Kenneth R. Cummings and ARPAS Executive Vice President Richard R. Frahm signed the five-year agreement recently. The MOU allows ARPAS to recommend its accredited individuals to USDA for certification to provide technical services in feed management. Their work must meet USDA standards and specifications for quality conservation technical assistance.

NRCS certifies technical service providers and lists them by state on a national, web-based registry called TechReg. Farmers, ranchers and other landowners seeking conservation technical assistance can locate a technical service provider through this registry.

In addition to ARPAS, USDA has signed MOUs with the following eight certifying organizations—American Society of Agronomy, Society for Range Management, The Wildlife Society, Society of American Foresters, The Irrigation Association, University of Tennessee, National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants and Environmental Management Solutions.

The MOUs allow these organizations to recommend qualified individuals to USDA for certification as technical service providers in conservation planning and design, layout, installation and checkout of approved conservation practices.

Additional information on technical service provider assistance is available at http://techreg.usda.gov.

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