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On May 21, 1996, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Livestock Management Facilities Act, and Illinois livestock producers were suddenly faced with a new set of regulations. One of the new requirements was that livestock facilities with capacities of more than 300 animal units (for example, 750 finishing hogs, 214 dairy cows, or 300 beef feeders) were required to have at least one person certified in manure management. The new regulations defined two levels of certification, with requirements graduated by facility size. University of Illinois Extension, through the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, volunteered at the outset to provide the workshop training materials and instruction. This was done via subcontract to the Illinois Department of Agriculture, the agency that was named to manage the various regulations under the Act.