Large group of people on a farm walking behind tillage equipment. This photo was taken at the Arlington Ag Research Station for an Ag 101 training hosted for ag educators by Kevin Erb. This is a strip tillage.

Conservation Professional Training Program

Our Trainings

From introductory courses for new employees to advanced training for conservation advisors, the Conservation Professional Training Program, or CPTP, provides the training you need at every level.

Upcoming In-Person Trainings

Certified Soil Tester Training

Date
May 13th at 9 am-4 pm & May 14th at 8 am- 3 pm

Location
Jefferson County Highway Dept Training Room, 1425 Wisconsin Drive, Jefferson, WI

Description

Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) and the Conservation Professional Training Program, UW-Madison-Extension, are proud to announce the Spring 2026 POWTS (Private Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems) Certified Soil Tester (CST) Training.

Offered May 13-14 at the Jefferson County Highway Department Training Room (1425 Wisconsin Drive, Jefferson, WI), this 2-day training is for people who want to learn more about performing soil and site evaluations for POWTS in Wisconsin. It is an excellent course to take if you are preparing for your CST exam. 12 continuing education credit hours will be available to those attendees with a current CST credential. Please note that this course is not approved for continuing education credit hours for plumbing credentials (Inspector, Plumber, Maintainer).

A line of cows eating through a fenceline

Available Online Trainings

Fundamentals of Soil Health

Learn to improve your soil and water management, implement cover crops, and build soil health through four self-paced online soil health courses for farmers and agricultural professionals. These self-paced, online courses are available at no charge, and can be taken stand-alone or in conjunction with the in-field soil health training.

To register or for more information, contact Kevin Erb at kevin.erb@wisc.edu or 920-391-4652.

Introduction to Soil Health

The online Introduction to Soil Health course provides an overview of the importance of soil health to crop production and dives into the three primary characteristics of soil – physical, chemical and biological. This course also demonstrates easy-to-use field tests to identify current soil conditions and highlights the common practices that a farmer may choose to implement in order to improve soil health.

Soil Water Management

Building on the basics from the Introduction to Soil Health course, Soil Water Management delves deeper into the topics of soil-water and soil moisture management. Learners gain an understanding of soil-water properties related to water quality and quantity, the benefits of improving water infiltration and soil moisture holding capacity, common challenges to the adoption of practices that improve soil-water balance, and how to overcome those challenges. Real-farm examples are used to reinforce course concepts.

Cover Crops and Soil Health

This course discusses cover crops, the benefits of using cover crops to improve soil health, common barriers to utilizing cover crops, and potential alternatives. The course explains proper selection, establishment, management, and termination of cover crops in diverse production systems and recommends site-specific cover crops conducive with producer goals and farming systems.

Soil Health Management Systems

Soil Health Management Systems focuses on the challenge of implementing soil health practices in a farming system. The course guides participants through the process of selecting appropriate soil health management practices to meet farm-specific management requirements and goals. Course materials explore the key agronomic management principles to improve soil health, including reduced tillage, cover crops, crop rotations, and mulching, with an emphasis on understanding the benefits and challenges of implementing various soil health management practices within diverse agricultural production systems.

Corn growing with dead cover crops between the rows

AgLearn Courses

The Conservation Professional Training Program has worked with the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service to create a series of online courses hosted through AgLearn.

Federal employees should automatically have an AgLearn account. Non-federal employees will need additional assistance to access AgLearn courses.
For assistance, please contact your local AgLearn point of contact staff.

The courses our team has developed are listed below:

Introduction to Conservation Forestry

This course informs conservation planners about basic forest ecology and forest management practices to establish a foundation for implementing forestry and agroforestry conservation practices.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000482

Basics of Plant Identification for Conservation Planners

This course introduces plant identification and its role in the conservation planning process.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000450

Delivering Effective Blended Training to Conservationists

The course provides succinct, practical information to help you create effective blended trainings.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NCRS-NHQ-000055

Ecological Site
Descriptions

This course informs conservation professionals about ecological site descriptions and the value of referencing them throughout the NRCS conservation planning process.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000428

Introduction to the Emergency Watershed Protection Program

This course provides participants with fundamental knowledge about the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program, including the types and levels of assistance available, program timelines, the recovery process that NRCS follows, key documentation required, and program eligibility criteria. Participants also take away information about where to locate EWP Program information and common roles that NRCS staff fulfill.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000491

Emergency Watershed Protection Program Readiness

This course will refresh your knowledge of the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program and help you get ready to support program efforts in your area. The course takes approximately 20 minutes to complete.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000490

Forage Suitability Group (Pasture States)

This course introduces forage suitability groups (pasture states) and their reports.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000427

FSA 858 Wetland Screening Tool

This course provides a step-by- step method to understand and complete the FSA-858 form, along with background and practice in identifying potential wetlands on an applicant’s property that may impact his/her loan application.

AgLearn Catalog Number
FSA-HQ-DAFP-858

Fundamentals of Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Provisions

This course will give an overview of the basics of the Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) provisions of the Food Security Act of 1985, as amended.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000409

Introduction to Pasture Condition Scoring

This course introduces the pasture evaluation approach known as Pasture Condition Scoring (PCS), including the 10 indicators of pasture health most commonly used in PCS and some tools for evaluating the indicators.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000414

Rangeland Health Assessment

This course is designed to raise awareness of when, why, and how to use the rangeland health assessment procedure as detailed in Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000410

Stream Visual Assessment Protocol 2 (SVAP2)

Stream Visual Assessment Protocol 2 (SVAP2) introduces the process of visually assessing streams on working land.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000423

Using Basic Soil Survey Information in Conservation Planning

The goal of this course is to introduce several common soil properties and interpretations, the basics of map unit composition, and Web Soil Survey, the official source of soils data.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000416

Using Planning Criteria in Conservation Planning

This course introduces the NRCS planning criteria and their role in each phase of the Nine Steps of Conservation Planning.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000486

Using WIN-PST for Conservation Planning

This course introduces the Windows Pesticide Screening Tool (WIN-PST), how to run it, and how to interpret and use its reports.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000429

Wildlife Habitat Evaluation for Conservation Planning

The course introduces the concept of wildlife habitat and how to apply science-based means of evaluation to aid the conservation planning process.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000426

NEPA, the NRCS-CPA-52 Environmental Evaluation and Conservation Planning

The course explores NEPA, the NRCS 9 Step Planning Process, and the NRCS-CPA-52 Environmental Evaluation Worksheet.

AgLearn Catalog Number
NRCS-NEDC-000048

Print This Page