AMES, Iowa – Four workshops will be held this summer and fall to help Technical Service Providers (TSPs), Certified Crop Advisers (CCAs) and other advisors who work directly with farmers and landowners achieve their certification in prairie strip design, establishment and monitoring.
The full-day workshops will cover field mapping, prairie plant identification, seed mixtures, maintenance, determining costs, ‘AgSolver applications’ and more. Attendance at the workshop is the first step of a three-part certification program to become a prairie strips consultant.
The workshops are free for all attendees. A limited number of qualified attendees will receive a $250 stipend for attending the workshop and a $1,000 bonus after successful installation of prairie strips on a client’s field. Program participants will create a communications piece to support their business credentials in prairie strips.
Workshop dates and locations
All workshops will run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will be run by faculty and extension staff from Iowa State University. The four dates and locations for training workshops are:
- July 12, The Wallace Learning Center, Lewis
- August 3, Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation, Calmar
- September 11, Northeast Iowa Community College Clock Tower Business Center, Dubuque
- September 28, Iowa State University Northwest Research and Demonstration Farm, Sutherland
An online registration form and additional information about the workshops are available. Completed registration forms and questions should be submitted to rachaelw@iastate.edu.
The workshops are sponsored by the McKnight Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance.