 Hello and welcome to the 2020 online manure composting workshop. This workshop is a collaboration between the University of Minnesota Extension and North Dakota State University Extension and it's funded by the North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. Now this workshop was originally planned to be held in person in Minnesota and North Dakota but due to the current pandemic situation we decided to just move the program online. Now there are two phases to this workshop. The first one launched on August 4th where the informational videos were posted. In those videos you'll learn about composting basics such as site selection, turning the compost, economics and land application. In addition there's an interactive video on diagnosing common compost problems and also a video where we visited the operations of three compost producers. The second phase will be held on August 11th. Now this will be a live discussion over Zoom held from 1 to 3 p.m. Central Standard Time. The three compost producers from the video will be present to discuss composting and their operations so make sure you've already watched the videos posted on August 4th before the live discussion on August 11th and come ready to ask questions. Now let's meet the instructors of this workshop. Hi I'm Crisis Moderman an extension educated with the University of Minnesota. I'm part of the CROPS team and I primarily focus on developing educational programming for farmers and ag professionals on manure nutrient management. Hi I'm Mary Keena livestock environmental management specialist with NDSU Extension. I'm located at the Carrington Research Extension Center and I get to primarily work with CROPS and livestock producers on manure management and mortality management issues. Hi my name is Melissa Wilson. I'm an assistant professor and extension specialist at the University of Minnesota and my specialty is in land application of manure so I'm going to be telling you everything you might need to know about how to apply composted manure to the land. Hi I'm Jeff Gale I'm the agent for agriculture and natural resources in Foster County, North Dakota. My main experience is in the area of soil health during this workshop I'll be giving presentations on the economics of composting.