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Chilliwack, British Columbia
Advanced Training, February 28-29 and AGM March 1, 2012
IOIA will sponsor advanced organic inspector training in conjunction with the IOIA Annual Membership Meeting on March 1 at the Best Western Rainbow Country Inn in Chilliwack. Tentatively, a poultry euthanasia workshop is also being developed with the BC SPCA late afternoon Feb. 27 at the Ministry of Agriculture Pathology lab in Abbotsford.
Training will include one full day (Feb 28) of field trip to the Agri-Pacific Research Station Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the UBC Dairy Education and Research Centre, both in Aggasiz. Transportation will be provided. The morning session will focus on practical field indicators of soil health for inspectors. The afternoon includes a tour of the dairy research farm with focus on animal welfare projects, field indicators of animal health, feed audit exercise at the Feed Intake Research Facility, and gait score training workshop. Evening session will be “Inspectors’ Corner – BC Style” with informal discussion.
Day 2 (Feb 29) will focus on an update of the Canadian Organic Standards, USDA NOP standards update, and processing topics including Boilers and Boiler Additives – practical demonstration of boilers, filters and types of boiler chemical used. Agenda is under development. As the training agenda is finalized, the agenda and speaker bios will be posted here.   
Keynote address on March 1 will be offered by Beth McMahon and Gunta Vitins. McMahon, new Executive Director of the Canadian Organic Growers (COG), has been active in the organic sector for several years, recently completing an 8-year term as Executive Director of the Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network (ACORN). She holds a Masters of Environmental Studies with a focus on organic agricultural systems. Vitins is President of Canada Organic Trade Assoc. (COTA) & Industry Chair of Agri-Food Canada’s Organic Value Chain Roundtable. She has been spearheading innovative agri-food initiatives in the public and private sectors for over 25 years, focusing on the organic industry for the past two decades.  The IOIA events follow the Annual Conference of Certified Organic Associations of British Columbia (COABC), scheduled Feb 24-26 at the same venue. For more information about that conference, see  www.certifiedorganic.bc.ca.   
For more information about the Hotel, including its Green Initiatives, see www.rainbowcountryinn.com.

Webinar: IOIA/OMRI Livestock Inputs Webinar, March 14 2012 
This webinar will cover what livestock inspectors should look for during inspections and how OMRI reviews livestock materials. OMRI will provide the technical expertise of Lindsay Fernandez-Salvador, OMRI Program Director, as lead presenter. This is the second such webinar topic in a planned series covering crops, livestock, and handling. Previous crop inputs webinars have been evaluated very well by inspectors and other certification agency staff. Don’t miss it! The course includes pre-course reading as well as in-class discussion and exercises, with opportunity for Q & A. An additional 30-minute pre-recorded session will be provided for those who have not taken a previous crop inputs webinar. Participants will gain skill in understanding input assessment and in navigating the resources available on the OMRI website http://www.omri.org by reviewing this session as part of the pre-course. Attendees also receive an individual subscription to OMRI and a graded post-assessment. Joint IOIA and OMRI Certificates of Completion will be awarded to successful participants, and discounts are available for current OMRI subscribers and IOIA members. To register, see the IOIA registration page: http://ioiaregistration.ganconference.com

State College, Pennsylvania
Crop, Livestock, Advanced, March 31-April 6, 2012
IOIA and Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO) will cosponsor Basic Crop Inspection Training and Livestock Inspection Training running concurrently April 2-6. Each basic course includes 4 days of instruction including a field trip to a certified organic operation, plus ½ day for testing. Advanced Organic Inspector Training will precede the training on March 31-April 1. Agenda is under development and will be posted here when available. Topics include sampling for residue analysis and unannounced inspections. All trainings will be held at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. PCO is a USDA-accredited certification agency that performs approximately 700 inspections annually in Pennsylvania and adjoining states (New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, and Ohio). For more information about PCO, visit www.paorganic.org.

Click on the links below for information about the trainings and application forms.

Brandon, Manitoba – Crop and Livestock April 30 – May 12, 2012
IOIA and Assiniboine Community College (ACC) will cosponsor Basic Organic Crop Inspection Training followed by Basic Organic Livestock Inspection Training, using the Canadian Organic Standards as a reference. The courses each include 4 days of instruction, including a field trip to a certified organic crop, respectively livestock operation, plus ½ day for testing. For more information about these trainings, please contact Mary Petersen at Ph: 204-725-8700 Ext 6683 Fax: 204-725-8740; e-mail: PeterseM@Assiniboine.net  Assiniboine Community College is located at 1430 Victoria Avenue East in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada R7A 2A9.

Watch upcoming IOIA newsletters and this page for details as these and other trainings develop.

• Basic Crop Inspection training — 4½ days
• Basic Processing Inspection training — 4½ days
• Basic Livestock Inspection training — 4½ days
• Advanced Inspector trainings — 2 days