This course introduces you to NRCS planning criteria and their role in each phase of the Nine Steps of Conservation Planning. You will learn about their relation to field and automated assessment tools and about how they are used in identifying resource concerns and evaluating conservation alternatives for clients.

Course Objectives:

Understand that the overarching purpose of planning criteria is to help planners identify and address resource concerns.
Access planning criteria in the Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG), Section III.

This course introduces you to the Windows Pesticide Screening Tool (WIN-PST). You will learn what the tool is and how to run it. You will also learn how to interpret reports it generates and how they can be used when working with clients. You’ll also see how using this tool fits in the Nine Steps of Conservation Planning.

Video presentations from the 7th Annual Nitrogen: Minnesota's Grand Challenge & Compelling Opportunity Conference February 9th, 2021

• ESN Use in Poorly Drained Soils

• Alternative Management Tool for Groundwater Protection

• Nitrogen Fertilization in Southeast MN

Cover crops offer many benefits for agriculture that include erosion control; reduced compaction and nutrient leaching; increased water infiltration; improved soil biodiversity; weed control and disease suppression; increased carbon sequestration and maximum nutrient recycling; improved air, soil, and water quality; and wildlife enhancement. Every cover crop species has its own niche and attributes for agricultural production.

Managing Cover Crops Profitably, Third Edition, was published in 2007 by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program under cooperative agreements with the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, the University of Maryland and the University of Vermont. 

Managing Cover Crops Profitably

TTCP Training Engineer Aaron Peter will use the Engineering Field Tools software to demonstrate how to incorporate and calculate out-of-bank flows in your EFT waterway design where allowed.  The process follows Engineering Field Handbook Chapter 7, MN Supplement 7-13.  Familiarity with standard waterway designs in EFT is recommended.

Discovery Farms Programs in Wisconsin and Minnesota are excited to bring to you a virtual conference series this winter. Join us as we cover topics like water quality, soil health, climate change, and more!

This proficiency exam verifies competency to satisfy the conservation planner designation requirement of the Economics of Conservation Planning Course.

What livestock management is needed to meet the Prescribed Grazing Standard? What are the requirements to meet the CSP Prescribed Grazing Enhancements? Lance Smith, NRCS State Rangeland Management Specialist, reviews the 528 Practice Standard requirements and the CSP participant's technical requirements to meet the 528 Enhancement Criteria.

Jeff Duchene, NRCS Grazing Lands Specialist, reviews the recommended order of installing facilitating practices for prescribed grazing. He reviews example grazing plans and discusses the order practices will be installed based on information gathered from the producer during the conservation planning process, as well as logistical considerations of how practices may impact the installation of other practices.