Financial Decision Making
Financial Decision Making improves student's understanding of financial management techniques. The course enables students to better analyze and manage their farming operations. Exercises cover the creation and analysis of financial statements. Quizzes test comprehension of materials provided in the course.
Crop Marketing 101
An overview of corn and soybean marketing including the four basic marketing tools: cash sales, forward contracts, futures and options.
Iowa Commodity Challenge
Learn how to use cash forward contracts, futures and options using real corn and soybean markets in a simulation of new crop. Simulation runs with marketing year.
Crop Marketing Online Course
Crop marketing is a non-credit professional certificate offered by Iowa State University that provides a learning opportunity for those who manage farm operations. Course has set dates for registration and completion.
Livestock Price and Market Risk Management
The course focuses on the basic concepts and definitions related to price risk management. It introduces some risk management strategies producers commonly use, and discusses their relative strengths and weaknesses. The course covers forward contracts, futures, options and livestock insurance for both beef and swine producers.
Bilingual Training and Education Program to Improve Practices That Affect Milk Quality
The Bilingual Training and Education Program to Improve Practices That Affect Milk Quality has been designed to help dairy farm employees better understand the how’s and why’s of handling and milking cows. After completing each training module by viewing the short accompanying videos and resource materials, participants will complete a quiz to receive a certificate of completion for each module. Each training module includes videos presented in Spanish with English subtitles. The quizzes are offered in both English and Spanish, and the Spanish quizzes include audio translation. The videos include demonstrations of on-farm practices to emphasize key milking and management techniques.
Herbicide Resistance and Weed Management
Plan ahead. Dealing with herbicide resistance can be expensive. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates the cost of dealing with herbicide resistance once it occurs to be $20 to $60 per acre. Developing long-term weed management plans that reduce the chances of resistance developing will minimize the cost of resistance. However, it's a team effort - farmer, retailer, and industry - working together to delay herbicide resistance.
This online, interactive and self-paced course contains narrated presentations, lesson activities and resources to provide farmers and agribusiness professionals the tools to develop long-term weed management plans to help delay the development of herbicide resistance.
Online review course for the Iowa Certified Crop Adviser Examination
This course prepares individuals for the Iowa Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) Examination. The course is divided into the four major exam competency areas. Within each competency area are modules that cover the subject matter. In total, there are 26 modules with nearly 8 hours of recorded programming. For individuals preferring text over audio, scripts are provided as an alternative.
Risk Management Education for Farmers with On-Farm Visitors
This online curriculum offers information and tools to enhance the safety and health of a on-farm operation that allows visitors on their property. Participation in this program will lead to new skills and techniques to implement practical management solutions on your farm. Individuals will have 3 months to complete this course and will receive a certificate of completion upon successfully completing the online training modules, activities and quizzes.
Getting Started with Backyard Chickens eCourse
Interested in getting started with poultry? This course walks you through how to select, order your chickens, care for and protect your flock.
MarketReady Online Certification Program
Are you a food producer who’s considering whether to sell your products to wholesale markets? MarketReady is a virtual workshop series to help Iowa farmers sell food to restaurants, grocery stores, food service buyers, and schools. The workshops address the market development risks and relationships farmers and ranchers need to manage as they plan to scale up. Each workshop includes a panel of area wholesale buyers who share information on what they are looking for from growers.
This program is offered by county extension services; contact your local office to ask if they will sponsor a series in your area. FFED staff will work with them to schedule and deliver it.
Virtual Local Food Leader Certification Course
This certification is an integrated program of online workshops and Local Food Leader online modules. This certification program is delivered over four months. Participants who complete the course will receive a certificate of completion in Local Food Leader.
Mapping 101 Certification
Mapping 101 is appropriate for individuals interested in understanding how to create maps for decision making and building new skills in QGIS for data and map development. Mapping 101 is offered as a separate certification but is included in the Full and Assessor certifications through Community Food Systems.
Community Food Systems Design Certificate
Participants in this course will receive access to Module 1: Introduction to Community Food Systems and Design Thinking.
- Introduction to Community Food Systems teaches the Community Food Systems process utilized at Iowa State.
- Design Thinking teaches methods and practices for site observation, considerations for creative techniques for project development and various potentials of design related to food systems.
Crop Scout School
The 2021 Virtual Crop Scout School is available now and is free to the general public. The scout school consists of 22 webinars from crop protection specialists at eleven Midwest Universities and is offered through the Crop Protection Network (CPN).
Animal U
Animal U promotes involvement in animal agriculture and allows all youth the opportunity to increase their knowledge. It also enables more young people to become involved through accessible, straight-forward, and research-based information.