AMES, Iowa — Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and Iowa Department of Natural Resources, has scheduled a workshop to train livestock producers and service providers on how to use the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation 2 (RUSLE2) and the Iowa Phosphorus Index in nutrient management and manure management plans. RUSLE2 software calculates soil loss for a given field, which is needed to figure out the Iowa Phosphorus Index.
The RUSLE2 workshop will be held online from Aug. 10-14. Each day, one session will be held from 2:30-4 p.m. using Zoom. Participants will need to pre-install the freely available Zoom Software Application to participate. A web link will be sent daily to the participants to join the zoom session online.
The sessions of this introductory level workshop will provide hands-on software orientation for RUSLE2, including an introduction to the operating parameters, selection of input values, and developing and saving management operations.
Additionally, real field examples will be used in the sessions to determine risk calculations of the Iowa Phosphorus Index and how to incorporate these numbers into manure and nutrient management planning requirements. Manure management planning, soil sampling requirements, common errors and the IDNR’s review process also will be discussed. An orientation into the new soil loss calculation software, WEPP – Water Erosion Prediction Project, will also be provided.
The workshop sessions will be taught by Don Corrington, U.S. Department of Agriculture-NRCS; Kapil Arora and Dan Andersen, agricultural and biosystems engineering specialists with ISU Extension and Outreach; and Jeremy Klatt, Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
“Nutrient and manure management plans require updated RULSE2 and P-Index calculations every four years, and these online sessions will be a great refresher for those producers who develop their own plans or for consultants who are new to this planning process,” said Arora.
Cost of the five workshop sessions is $150 if registered by Aug. 5, and $175 after that date. Participants must have an MS Windows compatible laptop or desktop computer equipped with camera and audio speakers; Microsoft Excel software; and the administrator password to the computer in order to install software.
Workshop coordinators will work with the registered participants prior to the workshop to pre-install the needed software. The workshop is limited to 15 participants and all participants must pre-register. Crop Advisor Credits (6 SW, 1 NM) are available for this workshop.
The agenda for different daily sessions and registration instructions, and additional workshop details are available on the RUSLE2 Workshop website. Participants interested in attending the workshop can register online.
— Kapil Arora, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
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