Pollinators

(Time: 57:21) In this session, Elaine Evans will discuss pollinators.   Pollinators are a crucial part of our food production system as well as key players in ecosystem health. She will talk about who these pollinators are, what they do in agricultural systems, and practices to promote their health and diversity.

GPS 101: Introduction to GPS

(Time: 24:30)  This is an introductory presentation on the U.S. Global Positioning System.  It is not training on specific equipment but an overview of the GPS system and how it works.  The target audience are people who may be using GPS survey equipment but are unfamiliar with how the GPS system works.  If you don’t know how GPS works, you will not understand why it’s not working.  This presentation is intended for viewing before getting more advanced hands on training on specific GPS equipment.

VegScape

Layer developed by USDA NASS in cooperation with NASA.  Map showing crop condition monitoring system. Integrates soil moisture, temperature, etc.

CropScape

Layer developed by USDA NASS in cooperation with NASA.  Map showing crop history of areas going back to 1997.  Also evaluation of how many years an area has been in specific crops.  Useful for remotely determining crop and rotations.  Area of interest can be defined or uploaded as an ESRI shapefile.  Data can be exported as .tif and KML files

Census of Agriculture

County specific data (examples include acres and sales by crop type, number and sales by livestock type and types of operators and operations) can be found by selecting “Find data by: state and county”  or querying “Data Search Tools: Quick Stats”  This data is useful to help determine the types of agricultural operations that exist within a county or other geographic work area.

Introduction to Beef Cattle Production in the United States

Nine modules:  Module 1:  Beef Cattle Genetic Management; Time: 20 - 25 minutes; Module 2: Beef Cattle Nutrition and Feeding; Time: 30 – 45 minutes; Module 3: Reproduction in Beef Cattle; Time: 30 – 45 minutes; Module 4: Beef Cattle Health Management; Time: 45 – 60 minutes; Module 5: Facilities, Handling & Environmental Considerations; Time: 30 – 45 minutes; Module 6: Market Classes, Grades and Types of Cattle and Beef; Time: 20 – 30 minutes; Module 7: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Feeder Cattle Standards; Time: 20 – 30 minutes;  Module 8: Public Issues Affecting Be