Courses

The principles of 4R nutrient stewardship apply to every plant nutrient. Magnesium (Mg), traditionally considered a secondary macronutrient, is often overlooked. This article reviews the options available for managing magnesium and the benefits you might expect.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 0.5 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 0.5 Self Directed

Price:
$40.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription.

In 2013, the fertilizer industry in North America launched the 4R Research Fund. Members of the fertilizer industry pledged annual commitments of financial support to research connecting 4R practices to impacts. This article briefly summarizes findings and benefits to the industry that have resulted from the financial support directed towards research.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 0.5 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 0.5 Self Directed

Price:
$40.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription.

Potassium (K) is an essential element for crop growth, playing a key role in photosynthesis, protein synthesis, and many other essential functions in the plant. In 2020, 44% of the soils sampled across North America tested below critical in K (meaning applying K fertilizer would result in a crop response). Assessing soils for nutrient availability is an important principle of 4R Nutrient Stewardship. The goal of this article is to provide information on the behavior of K in soils and how it influences the assessment of crop K needs.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription

Big data and machine learning have the potential to transform agriculture and 4R nutrient management practices. The integration of these technologies empowers farmers to adapt to variable conditions, optimize applications, and minimize environmental impact. While challenges such as data quality must be addressed, the future prospects are promising.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Webcast Seminar Series

In this webinar, presenters share their expertise in sampling and cleanout for lagoons and anaerobic digesters and considerations in planning these operations.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

Declining sulfur depositions from the atmosphere have caused sulfur shortages in soils across the Midwest for more than a decade. Fortunately for growers in regions with noticeable declines in depositions, fixing the problem typically requires minimal amounts of sulfur fertilizer.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 0.5 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 0.5 Self Directed

Price:
$40.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Webcast Seminar Series

This webinar explores where, how, and when it makes sense to merge manure digesters with natural gas pipelines. 

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

Elemental sulfur (S) is produced in large quantities in both the U.S. and Canada as a by-product of fossil fuel production. However, this form of S must be oxidized to sulfate (SO42–) by soil microorganisms before crops can utilize it and therefore may not meet crop S requirements in the year of application. Rapid oxidation can be obtained if elemental sulfur particles are less than 20 μm in size and effectively dispersed in soil under favorable moisture and temperature conditions.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 0.5 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 0.5 Self Directed

Price:
$40.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription

The recovery of fertilizer nitrogen by crops in the year of application is usually cited as being about 50%, despite considerable efforts to improve nitrogen efficiencies in agricultural systems. The use of fertilizer additives containing urease and/or nitrification inhibitors may improve fertilizer N efficiency. This was evaluated in four experiments conducted at multiple locations across the Canadian Prairies.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 0.5 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 0.5 Self Directed

Price:
$40.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription.

Nutrient management, particularly for nitrogen, plays an important role in improving the carbon footprint of crop production. Many programs have recently expanded their offerings or funding levels of incentives to farmers to adopt more climate-smart nutrient management practices. These programs provide opportunities for crop advisers to accelerate adoption among their clients of 4R practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support soil carbon sequestration. The intent of this article is to provide a broad description of the programs available and the practices most likely to be effective.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.5 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.5 Self Directed

Price:
$50.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$70.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Webcast Seminar Series

In this webinar, presenters share their expertise in sampling and cleanout for lagoons and anaerobic digesters and considerations in planning these operations.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico is an environmental issue connected to agricultural crop management in the Mississippi River watershed. Programs to improve nutrient stewardship in this watershed aim to improve nutrient use efficiency and reduce losses of nitrogen and phosphorus. Trends since the 1980s show increases in both crop production and the size of the hypoxic zone while the trends in nitrogen surplus have neither increased nor decreased. Provisional flow-normalized river loads of nitrogen are decreasing. While improvements in adoption of 4R management of applied fertilizers and manures have been noted, opportunities for improvement also remain. While 4R practices will not solve the issue on their own, they can make an important contribution when integrated with soil conservation practices and changes to whole farming systems.  

CEUs: 
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management 
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed 

Price: 
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals 
$65.00 Non-members 

This course is included with the classroom subscription

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Webcast Seminar Series

In this webinar, we will discuss what happens when we plan for extreme events and what happens when they happen unexpectedly.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Webcast Seminar Series

In this webinar, discover why manure management is important – even in an urban or backyard setting. 

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Webcast Seminar Series

This webinar highlights ManureDB, a database of manure samples informing “book values”. Having current manure test numbers will assist in more accurate nutrient management planning, manure storage design, manure land application, and serve agricultural modeling purposes. 

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Webcast Seminar Series

This webinar explores where, how, and when it makes sense to merge manure digesters with natural gas pipelines. 

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Webcast Seminar Series

This webinar highlights one tool that provides resources to support livestock production and expansion, as well as two others that focus on manure application planning and making the best use of manure available.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

Nutrient management, and more specifically nitrogen management, is important for the bottom line and is an integral part of soil health. Conducting a post-harvest assessment of yield, grain protein levels, and nutrient uptake efficiency is a vital part of an effective nutrient management plan. This article demonstrates the use of a tool to do this.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 0.5 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 0.5 Self Directed

Price:
$40.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription

Properly timing nutrient applications to align with peak crop demand is crucial for maximizing yield and fertilizer efficiency. Early-season availability of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) is especially important, as much of the N and P used during grain fill is remobilized from plant tissues, not taken directly from the soil. Nutrient uptake peaks before maximum crop growth, varying by crop type. This article provides nutrient uptake curves for key Montana crops to guide optimal fertilizer timing, with a focus on N due to its common use in topdressing.

CEUs: 
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management 
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price: 
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals 
$65.00 Non-members

Palmer amaranth is one of the most troublesome pigweeds in crop production systems in the United States. It only recently started to appear in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). A coordinated extension and outreach effort among land grant universities (University of Idaho, Oregon State University, and Washington State University), Amalgamated Sugar, other commodity commissions, and industry was launched to track Palmer amaranth in the PNW. In 2023, tissue samples were collected from pigweeds suspected to be Palmer amaranth with tests providing confirmation. Palmer amaranth was detected in several crops as well as right-of-way and private property. Most of the Palmer amaranth populations were confirmed to be resistant to glyphosate. Additional surveys and resistance screening efforts are underway to map the distribution of Palmer amaranth and assess the level of herbicide resistance across the region.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 0.5 Integrated Pest Management
CPSS/CPSC: 0.5 Self Directed

Price:
$40.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription.

To achieve high grain protein in wheat, sufficient nutrients must first support growth and yield, with any extra nitrogen (N) boosting protein levels. While drought or heat stress during grain fill can raise protein, proper crop and fertilizer management can do so without hurting yield. In Montana, dryland spring wheat needs about 3.3 lb available N per bushel for 14% protein, but producers average only 2.6 lb, leading to significant financial losses during years with high protein price premiums. However, over-fertilization can worsen soil acidification. This article outlines key factors and practices to optimize wheat protein levels.

CEUs: 
CCA/CPAg: 1.5 Nutrient Management 
CPSS/CPSC: 1.5 Self Directed

Price: 
$50.00 Members/Certified Professionals 
$70.00 Non-members

National, state, and regional corn and soybean yields continue to set new production records, and with and these higher yields come a larger nutrient requirement per land area. Improvements in fertilize use efficiency are needed to sustain high yields while mitigating off-target nutrient movement. Are biologicals the key? There has been a surge of biological products coming to market with claims to enhance soil nutrient supply and/or improve fertilizer use efficiency. However, not all products are created equal, and each performs in a unique way, resulting in questions of which product types work, where and how they work, and most importantly, what other management practices help realize the full economic benefit of these biological products.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription

Biostimulants have much variation in the types of products that fit this group of crop inputs as well as variability within their respective categories. These differences induce many challenges in consistency of product performance and thus skepticism to the class of inputs as a whole. With so many products available on the market, it is challenging to know if these products were developed with adequate science and research or tossed together quickly to take advantage of the momentum this sector currently has. In the latter case, these products are often referred to as “snake oil”; while in the former case, the products could be referred to as “viper lipid” with a place to increase yield or return on investment. Only with a proper understanding of how a product works can a producer then properly place and use it to optimize crop performance, and as importantly, know when not to use it.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Webcast Seminar Series

The second in a series of 3 webinars, this presentation focuses on soil carbon: how it can be changed and how to sell it.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

Society has made (and will be making) significant demands on agriculture in the not-to-distant future. Meeting future sustainability goals and environmental regulations while simultaneously continuing to meet requirements for food, feed, fuel, and fiber requires a firm understanding of how “we” have collectively arrived at our current status as it relates to our fertility principles and beliefs as well as the processes that address them. We have advanced far from the earliest thoughts on rudimentary plant nutrition to a sophisticated science of prescription crop nutrition. This article represents the first part of a series that intends to describe crop nutrition and fertilizers from where we have been to where the authors believe that we will likely need to be prepared to go if we are to support world demands into the foreseeable future.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.5 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.5 Self Directed

Price:
$50.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$70.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription.

The 20th century saw the development of a highly efficient nutrient industry producing affordable fertilizers that contributed greatly to increased food, feed, fiber, and fuel production for a growing global population. Plant nutrient production and use in the 21st century faces pressure to improve efficiency and outcomes. The nutrient industry has historically operated with large volumes and low margins, and has, at times, been slow to embrace innovations. However, the landscape has changed, driven by the demand for superior products, practices, and environmental stewardship. This transition marks the advent of what the experts term “responsible plant nutrition.” This is the third and final article in a series on the past, present, and future of the North American fertilizer industry.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.5 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.5 Self Directed

Price:
$50.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$70.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription.

Over the past few decades, the North American fertilizer sector has experienced significant transformations, and common fertilizers have evolved into agricultural commodities that are extensively traded on a global scale. Consequently, farmers often lack visibility into the origins of the fertilizers used for their crops. There is also growing awareness of the need for enhanced nutrient stewardship to meet local, regional, and global concerns. This is the second article in a three-part series on the past, present, and future of the North American fertilizer industry.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.5 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.5 Self Directed

Price:
$50.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$70.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription.

Developed more than 80 years ago, the soil pH and nutrient diagram offers a quick reference that growers can use to gauge soil fertility and plant nutrition. At first glance, the relationship between soil pH and nutrient availability makes sense. Soil pH influences the solubility, concentration, ionic form, adsorption, and mobility of important plant nutrients. But this simple diagram hides the complexity of this relationship.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 0.5 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 0.5 Self Directed

Price:
$40.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription.

One of the most important aspects of site-specific nutrient management is precision soil sampling such as grid- and zone-based strategies to determine varying soil nutrient levels within a field. One of the most important considerations in grid soil sampling is the size of the grids as it affects both the sampling resolution and costs. Questions and concerns from growers about the effectiveness of different grid sizes in accurately depicting soil nutrient variability have become common recently, warranting an investigation into how grid size affects application accuracy and economics of site-specific nutrient management in the southeastern U.S.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 0.5 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 0.5 Self Directed

Price:
$40.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription.

Sulfur plays several roles in 4R plant nutrition. First, as an essential plant nutrient, it may need to be applied to optimize yields and quality of crops. Second, there may be need to replenish the sulfur removed from the soil by crop harvests. Third, some forms of sulfur may have additional benefits through their effects on soil pH and on soil nitrogen processes. The three roles combine to support enhanced productivity with lower impacts on the environment. This article reviews basic sulfur nutrition, recent trends affecting the need for fertilizers, and the contribution of sulfur to improving productivity sustainably.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription.

In recent years, biostimulants and biologicals have gained substantial traction in the marketplace with dozens of products available for growers and consultants to choose from. However, biostimulants vary widely in type and mode of action in the plant. To best understand how some of these products may be tied to soil fertility, a deeper understanding of biostimulants and biologicals is worth acquiring.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription

University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Webcast Seminar Series

This webinar discusses the science and economics behind the use of worms in the processes of composting (i.e., vermicomposting) and treatment of wastewater and manure liquid waste stream (vermifiltration). 

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Webcast Seminar Series

This webinar focuses on on adoption of place-based conservation practices to improve water quality. 

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

What is a plant nutrient? For many decades, plant nutrients have been defined by the concept of essentiality. More recently, however, 4R nutrient stewardship has been defined as management that produces sustainable outcomes. Some elements provide benefits even if they are not essential. A new definition of what a plant nutrient is has been proposed and is under consideration by authorities in fertilizer regulation.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription.

Fertilizer use has been a key factor in boosting crop yields worldwide. At the same time, the global use of nitrogen fertilizer is associated with greenhouse gas emissions This article reviews the scope for reducing emissions associated with fertilizer use. It addresses the global scale and recent reports focused on Canada, the United States, and sub-Saharan Africa. It concludes with a review of the advantages and limitations of approaches based on managing nitrogen surplus in crop nutrient budgets and shows how a 4R approach both includes and goes beyond reducing surpluses.

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members

This course is included with the classroom subscription

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Webcast Seminar Series

There’s more to worker safety than just bumps and bruises. This webinar discusses on-farm injuries related to manure and mortality handling and application as well as potential toxic gas exposures and how to minimize risks of each. 

CEUs:
CCA/CPAg: 1.0 Nutrient Management
CPSS/CPSC: 1.0 Self Directed

Price:
$45.00 Members/Certified Professionals
$65.00 Non-members