Sprinter

Yesterday we had a good day celebrating Aunt Jane's 90th birthday and spending time with five of my cousins and their families. Today it was too cool to be spring and too warm to be winter so I called it sprinter. Part spring, part winter, the last 3 months have been this way. It's so warm our friend Steve Groff even got cover crop planted last month to come up.

How much time do you spend on education? I am talking about continuing education for those of us out of high school or college. Many courses are offered in most communities and I wondered how many of you take continuing education?

Continuing education has been important to me. If you are a public school teacher, your pay is based on the amount of hours you have completed and the number of years of experience you have. Most schools "max out" at Master's Degree plus 30 hours here and 10 or 12 years of experience.

I earned my real estate license 35 years ago and it took extensive continuing education, passing a test and going back for "refresher courses" to maintain my license. Many certifications are done this way including my Certified Crop Advisor and Ohio Commercial Pesticide license.

I take 30 hours of course work over two years to maintain my CCA and 6 hours per year to maintain my pesticide license. LuAnn is taking a course for work that will certify her as a trainer in helping people change "their walk of life." It is so intensive this month and June it qualifies for 6 semester hours of graduate credit.

Do you take continuing education? Do you think all farmers should? Every farmer really ought to have at least a private pesticide license and that takes training, testing, and recertification. I think it is worth it just for the legal aspects of spraying your crops or what might happen when your crops are sprayed and potential damage occurs to neighbors, passers by, or someone down the food chain.

Ed