COLUMBUS, Ohio – Certified Crop Advisors looking to become Certified Nutrient Management Plan Providers can earn certification through a workshop taught by agronomists from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
The workshop offers participants information on creating a nutrient management plan that meets the requirements of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) CAP 102 Nutrient Management and other conservation cost-share programs offered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, said Greg LaBarge, an Ohio State University Extension field specialist and one of the leaders of Ohio State’s Agronomic Crops Team.
The team also includes scientists from the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. OSU Extension and OARDC are the outreach and research arms, respectively, of the college.
The EQIP program is a voluntary conservation program that helps farmers and producers design and implement conservation plans to improve soil, water, plant, animal, air and related resources on agricultural land and non-industrial private forestland.
The workshop will teach participants how to use Map Window GIS with MMP tools, an GIS front end software and Manure Management Planner software used to plan crop rotation needs for nutrient recommendations, site analysis and fertilizer allocations using an example farm, LaBarge said.
“This hands-on workshop utilizes the software needed to produce a nutrient management plan,” he said. “An example farm is used to walk through the steps from data input to plan document preparation.”
The day-long workshops are:
- Nov. 14 and Jan. 14, 2014, at the OSU Extension office in Putnam County, 1206 E. Second St., in Ottawa.
- Dec. 10 and Feb. 27, 2014, at the OSU Extension office in Marion County, 222 W. Center St. in Marion.
- Feb. 6, 2014, at the OSU Extension office in Fayette County, 1415 U.S. Route 22 South West, in Washington Courthouse.
For more information or to register, contact LaBarge at 740-223-4040 or by email at labarge.1@osu.edu. The deadline to register for each workshop is seven days prior to the workshop date and can be done at http://surveys.cfaes.ohio-state.edu/cfaes/index.php/974228/lang-en .
The workshops are limited to 12 participants and are free, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The grant will also fund follow-up work for the program, LaBarge said.
Greg LaBarge
740-223-4040
labarge.1@osu.edu