RUSLE2 and Iowa Phosphorus Index Workshop

A RUSLE2 and Iowa Phosphorus Index (P Index) workshop is scheduled for June 12, 2007, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Iowa State University Extension downtown Des Moines office in the Pappajohn Center located at 1200 Grand Avenue in Des Moines, Iowa. This workshop will provide training to service providers who are planning to work with livestock producers in developing nutrient and manure management plans for both the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Participants will learn where to find the necessary software and how to install it on their computers, how to determine critical areas in the field, how to determine erosion rates using RUSLE2, how to calculate P Index vulnerability ratings, and how to incorporate these numbers into manure management plans for confinement facilities or nutrient management plans for open feedlots. Instructors also will discuss soil sampling requirements for manure and nutrient management plans. This workshop is designed for people with little or no experience in using the RUSLE2 software. Registration is limited to 30 people and requires you bring a laptop computer. For a copy of the workshop brochure and registration information, as well as computer requirements and directions, please see www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/rusle2summer/home.html or contact Angela Rieck-Hinz at 515-294-9590 or Kapil Arora at 515-382-6551.

Advanced RUSLE2 Workshop

An Advanced RUSLE2 workshop is scheduled for June 13, 2007, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Iowa State University Extension downtown Des Moines office in the Pappajohn Center located at 1200 Grand Avenue in Des Moines, Iowa. This workshop builds upon the knowledge and principles discussed in the first workshop. This workshop will enable participants to explore practice-based changes that can be designed to reduce erosion. It will focus on RUSLE2 principles, dividing fields for RUSLE2, understanding tillage operations, and conservation practices both in RUSLE2 and the Iowa Phosphorus Index, combining soil analytical results, addressing land needs for Iowa Phosphorus Index requirements, and targeting sensitive areas. Registration is currently open only to those participants who have previously attended a RUSLE2 and Iowa Phosphorus Index workshop held in 2005, 2006, or 2007. In case you have not attended one of these workshops, please contact one of the instructors prior to completing your registration.

Registration is limited to 30 people. For a copy of the workshop brochure and registration information, as well as computer requirements, please see www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/rusle2summer_adv/home.html or contact Angela Rieck-Hinz at 515-294-9590 or Kapil Arora at 515-382-6551.

Angela Rieck-Hinz discusses soil sampling at the February 22, 2005, RUSLE2 and Iowa P Index Workshop held at the county extension office in Iowa Falls. (Kelvin Leibold)

Angela Rieck-Hinz is an extension program specialist in agronomy with responsibilities in manure management. Kapil Arora is an agricultural engineering field specialist for the Central Iowa Area.