Your Insect Allies: Meet the Beneficial Insects that Control Crop Pests and Promote Soil Health

Join Karin Jokela, Pollinator Conservation Specialist with the Xerces Society, to get to know some of the most common beneficial insects above and below ground. We will cover habitat planning to promote natural enemies and beneficial soil invertebrates, basic identification and ecology, as well as simple monitoring techniques to help farmers, land managers, and gardeners assess existing populations.

Wetland Restoration

This training will enable field staff involved in project applications, the design, or the construction of wetland restorations to have a solid understanding of the science and methods used. Types of implementation will include mostly basic components such as scrapes, ditch plugs, and small embankments. NRCS and SWCD staff that follow up this training with experience on actual projects should be able to pursue Job Approval Authority for the phase(s) they work on.

Forestry Equipment

Duane Fogard, American Bird Conservancy Forester,  from the  Duluth Field Office,  will lead us in a review of commonly used forest equipment that we may encounter in the state.  This training is for anyone who is working in a region of the state who has significant areas of land dedicated to forests to consider attending, especially if you are newer to forestry or would like to “brush up” on terminology or identification of commonly used equipment, availability,  suitability, and limitations based on site characteristics.
 

Ag 101 - Session 1: Nutrient Management

This training is presented by Centrol Crop Consulting Agronomists Ian Olson and Ken Fransky.   They present information on soils in Minnesota, basics of fertility, general agronomic tools, making appropriate fertilizer recommendations, cost of fertilizing, fertilizer 101, producer decision making process and introduction to precision ag and variable rate technology tools and concepts.  

Tech Talk: Tree/Shrub Establishment CPS 612

This session covers the use of Web Soil Survey to identify Conservation Tree/Shrub Groups and using the CTSG group spreadsheet to select species of trees/shrubs to plant. We will review tree spacing specifications for different planting purposes and other tree/shrub selection factors. In addition, participants will become familiar with the Implementation Requirements worksheet for the 612 practice standard.   

Tech Talk: Minnesota Natural Resource Atlas

Are you looking for a user friendly tool for visualizing and analyzing spatial data and information? If so, join Will Bartsch and Cindy Hagley, NRRI - UMD, to learn about the Minnesota Natural Resource Atlas. Participants will gain an understanding of the online Minnesota Natural Resource Atlas interactive mapping tool and database to be able to use it in natural resource planning, management, and outreach. By the end of the session, participants will be able to create their own multi-layer maps, perform simple analyses, and easily share them with others.