USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Science and Technology
East National Technology Support Center
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  • Science and Technology Webinars - Click a title to Join Us!
  • The ENTSC offers training webinars on a variety of technical topics the last Wednesday of the month from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Eastern. We also offer webinars on special topics, such as organic and sustainable agriculture, grazing land management, adaptive nutrient management, feed management, and wildlife. The ENTSC partners with the Central and West National Technology Support Centers to offer other national webinars. Click a webinar title for information to participate. Continuing Education Credits for each webinar are shown at the Science and Technology Training Library at ConservationWebinars.net.
  • 2013 ENTSC Webinar Schedule
  • View our schedule of more than 30 conservation, organic and sustainable agriculture, and wildlife topics. This schedule is subject to change.

  • What are FSGs, Why do I need them, and How can they help?
  • Kevin Ogles
    Grazing Lands Specialist
    USDA NRCS East National Technology Support Center

    July 16, 2013
    2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Eastern

    Participate in this webinar to learn the essential components of forage suitability groups (FSGs). This webinar is designed for NRCS conservation planners and partners to learn what FSGs are, how they are formed, and how they are used in conservation planning on pastures. Emphasis will be placed on the advantages conservation planners and pastureland managers have when working with FSGs compared to land use suitability information currently available in most states.

  • Environmental Evaluation Series - Planning for Floodplain and Riparian Area Special Environmental Concerns
  • Craig Goodwin
    National Aquatic Ecologist
    USDA NRCS Ecological Sciences Division

    Richard Weber
    Wetland Hydraulic Engineer, National Wetland Team
    USDA NRCS Central National Technology Support Center

    July 17, 2013
    2:00 PM Eastern / 11:00 AM Pacific
    90 Minutes

    As the third in the series on environmental evaluations, this webinar will assist USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service conservation planners, partners, and technical service providers to understand the ecological importance of floodplains and riparian areas and how to properly analyze and document existing conditions and the effects of planned conservation actions. Primary topics include: legal foundations, information/data sources, tools, mitigation measures, and documentation requirements including examples.

  • USDA Cover Crop Termination Guidelines
  • Presented by specialists representing:
    USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
    USDA Risk Management Agency
    USDA Farm Service Agency
    National Crop Insurance Services
    University of Missouri

    July 25, 2013
    2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Eastern

    USDA agency personnel and others should join this webinar to become knowledgeable about the recently developed USDA Cover Crop Termination Guidelines for Non-Irrigated Cropland.
    Cover crops serve multiple conservation and farm production purposes. Various USDA programs offered to producers impact the use and management of cover crops and can impact benefits if not managed within acceptable guidelines. The recently developed USDA Cover Crop Termination Guidelines represent a unified and science-based set of guidelines producers can follow to achieve conservation and production purposes of cover crops and remain eligible for all USDA benefits offered by different USDA agencies.

  • Lessons Learned from Natural Stream Restoration/Enhancement
  • Dick Everhart
    District Conservationist, Retired
    USDA NRCS North Carolina

    Angela Greene
    State Conservation Engineer, Retired
    USDA NRCS West Virginia

    July 31, 2013
    2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Eastern

    Participate to gain insight on Natural Channel Design based on more than 40 years combined experience from two retired USDA NRCS employees--a NC District Conservationist and WV State Conservation Engineer. Natural stream restoration, or Natural Channel Design (NCD), is an approach to manipulating stream corridors based on a well-known channel classification system. The widespread use of NCD methods, with a full range of successes and failures, has seen a bit of controversy in past years with numerous publications and vocal proponents and opponents. This webinar will draw on the combined experience of two retired USDA NRCS employees and present the views and experiences of both the ecological and engineering sides of the NCD equation. Our presenters will reflect on a large number of completed projects to discuss the myriad details that have a great effect on the success or failure of a NCD project, including design and permitting issues, construction details and choreography, materials, ecological and environmental benefits, social factors, and other "things that can happen" in the creation and implementation of a project.

  • Crop Rotations on Diversified Farms
  • Charles Mohler, Ph.D.
    Senior Research Associate
    Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
    Cornell University

    August 6, 2013
    3:00 PM Eastern / 12:00 PM Pacific
    60 Minutes

    Participate in this training to learn about the many variables to consider when developing crop rotations on diversified operations. Emphasis will be placed on considerations for weed, pest, and nutrient management, based on examples and input for farmers. This webinar will focus on material available in Crop Rotations on Organic Farms. Join us for an overview of how crop rotation can be used as a multi-functional management technique to address pests and weeds in diversified systems.

    Participate in this training to learn about the many variables to consider when developing crop rotations on diversified operations. Emphasis will be placed on considerations for weed, pest, and nutrient management, based on examples and input for farmers. Join us for an overview of how crop rotation can be used as a multi-functional management technique to address pests and weeds in diversified systems.


  • ENTSC Quarterly Newsletter
  • The ENTSC Newsletter is distributed on a quarterly basis. Each edition contains director's comments, technology development and transfer articles relevant to field staff, assistance highlights, and employee news.
  • FY2013 - 2nd Quarter
  • This edition features articles on soil health training to promote biodiversity, Plant Materials and cover crops research, micro-irrigation for small-scale farms, updating the process for generating CNMPs, and the why and how of pasture NRI in 2013.

  • FY2013 - 1st Quarter
  • This edition features articles on stabilization of Tennessee's Cane Creek, the Science and Technology Training Library at ConservationWebinars.net, Deepwater Horizon oil spill and NRCS, and pollinator conservation short courses.

  • FY2012 - 4th Quarter
  • This edition features articles on Under Cover Farmer and Winter Grazing videos, sustainable soil health training, FY2012 webinar recap, and CY2013 webinar survey.

  • FY2012 - 3rd Quarter
  • This edition features articles on CDSI Readiness, Webinar Captioning and our ENTSC Join Us! Webinar Schedule, Soil Health Management Systems, Soil Loss Equations, and current activities related to the 1985 Food Security Act.

  • FY2012 - 2nd Quarter
  • This edition features articles on 'Abraham Lincoln' Heirloom Tomatoes, Soil Health at the PMCs, Solar-powered Fencing, Adaptive Nutrient Management, Small-scale Micro-irrigation, and our ENTSC Join Us! Webinar schedule.

  • FY2012 - 1st Quarter
  • This edition features articles on Healthy Soil for Life!, Regionalization of Conservation Practice Standards, CDSI Readiness Roll-out, East Region ESDs, and our ENTSC Join Us! Webinar schedule.

USDA NRCS ENTSC
2901 E. Lee Street, Suite 2100
Greensboro, NC 27401
(336) 370-3341
 
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