Minnesota Core Competency Conservation (MNC3) Training Website
Get more out of your training time with the MNC3 website! Join our May 18 Tech Talk to explore free, self-paced modules covering soils, water quality, conservation planning, and more – plus tools to track progress and earn certificates and badges. Create your account and start learning today!
Basic Soils and Landscapes for Conservation Planners
There is still time to register!
Soils form the foundation of effective conservation planning. The Basic Soils and Landscapes for Conservation Planners training is a comprehensive, hands on course designed to strengthen your understanding of Minnesota soils and how to apply soil survey information in real world planning.
This immersive three day (May 26-28), training in/around Duluth blends classroom learning with field experience to build confidence in evaluating soils, landscapes, and conservation limitations and opportunities.
Key Topics Include:
- Soil formation, properties, and classification
- Soil survey program and mapping concepts
- Web Soil Survey analysis for conservation planning
- Field methods and hands on soil pit evaluations
Don’t miss this opportunity to strengthen your soils foundation — where landscapes meet planning success! For more information and a link to register visit the Basic Soils and Landscapes page.
Feed and Forage Management
Join TTCP in Howard Lake on May 28 for a Feed and Forage Management training which aims to provide participants with practical knowledge and hands-on experience to improve forage systems and livestock feeding outcomes. Attendees will explore forage harvest equipment at a local dealership followed by in depth instruction on forage quality. The training will highlight annual and grass-based forage systems, with a focus on selection, management, and productivity in grazing operations. Participants will then travel to a field site to observe live harvesting demonstrations and conduct pest sweeps, connecting classroom concepts to real world application. Emphasis will be placed throughout the day on operational safety and biosecurity to ensure best practices in both equipment use and field activities.
Additional information and a link to register can be found on the Feed and Forage Management page.
Grazing Facilitating Practices and Livestock Watering System Design
Returning this year is Grazing Facilitating Practices training, which is an introduction to the many practices often needed for a functional grazing management system: different types of fence, heavy use areas, watering systems, stream crossings, and more. This will be paired with Livestock Watering System Design training, a classroom training focused on (you guessed it) designing livestock watering systems. We encourage attendance at both trainings, but you can take just one of them.
The first set of trainings will be held during early June in Southeastern Minnesota, with the field session for Grazing Facilitating Practices near Spring Valley on June 3, and the classroom session for Livestock Pipeline Design in Rochester on June 4. Additional sessions are being planned for the central part of the state the last week of July, and north central Minnesota during the middle of August.
Registration is now open – visit the Grazing Facilitating Practices page or the Livestock Water System Design page for additional information.
2026 RCPP Irrigation Workshop
This year's technical irrigation workshop will be held at Central Lakes College in Staples June 29 to 30. The workshop is specifically for technical staff and planners from SWCDs and NRCS who are looking for advanced training on irrigation practices. As part of the workshop, attendees will work hands on with developing a plan for Irrigation Water Management (449), along with training on other irrigation practices. A goal of the workshop is that attendees will be enabled to pursue JAA for the covered irrigation practices. The two-day workshop will be a mix of classroom and in-field demonstrations. There will be no fee for participating in the workshop.
For additional information visit the Irrigation Technical Workshop page.
Conservation Planning Course
Conservation planning is the process used to identify and evaluate resource concerns, analyze information, and recommend conservation alternatives to treat identified problems. Conservation plans provide a sound foundation for technical and financial assistance to local landowners and managers looking to treat their resource concerns.
Registration is now open for the 2026 Conservation Planning Course, which will be held July 20 to 24 at the West Central Research & Outreach Center in Morris. Course attendees are required to be a Level 1 Conservation Planner before attending, and successful course completion is a big step towards achieving both Level 2 and 3 planner certification. The requirements for each designation can be found on the Conservation Planning page.
In addition to being a Level 1 Conservation Planner, all attendees need to complete the Core Competency modules before attending. The prerequisites for this course take approximately 55 hours to complete, and it is recommended that attendees have at least one year of experience before attending.
Additional information and a link to register can be found on the Training Calendar. If you have completed this course in the past and you are still interested in pursuing a Conservation Planner credential, get in touch with us to figure out where to go next.
Engineering Bootcamp
Formerly known as Intro to Conservation Engineering, Engineering Bootcamp will be held in Stearns County starting 10 a.m. on Aug. 18 and wrapping up around noon on Aug. 19. The two-day training, which is intended for all newer technical staff and not just engineering technicians, will include outdoor exercises and field visits to view installed practices. Each topic will be a high level overview intended to help participants become familiar with numerous conservation practices and understand the skills needed for their planning and implementation. This course does not include in depth practice design training.
Additional information and a link to register can be found on the Engineering Bootcamp page.
Minnesota Agroforestry Institute
Join experts, practitioners, and fellow conservation professionals for the Minnesota Agroforestry Institute, a two-and-a-half-day training focused on integrating trees and perennial systems into working agricultural landscapes. Through classroom sessions, field tours, and hands-on design exercises, participants will explore agroforestry practices such as alley cropping, silvopasture, forest farming, riparian buffers, and windbreaks.
This interactive institute, planned for Sept. 15-17 at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge in Zimmerman, will help technical staff and educators understand how agroforestry can improve farm profitability, water quality, wildlife habitat, soil health, and climate resilience, while providing practical tools to support landowners interested in adopting these practices.
For more information and a registration link visit the Agroforestry Institute page.
Tyler's Three Things: Cover Crop Certifications
A certified seed tag and certified scale ticket are all required documentation to certify a Cover Crop.
Seeding date, seeding method, and total acres seeded are also necessary.
Document all certification items and justifications in the CPA-6 notes.
Watch the 2026 Basic Cover Crop Webinar Series to learn more.
2026 Shared Training Calendar
An updated working version of the 2026 training calendar is now available. This 12-month view of training offerings is regularly updated and provides information about upcoming training events, including potential dates and locations. Please see the legend at the top and note that the further out a training is proposed the more likely adjustments will need to be made. The dates, locations, and other details are always tentative until the event is posted on the Training Calendar.
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Minnesota Wetland Professional Certification Program |
Upcoming Minnesota Wetland Professional Certification Program Course Schedule:
May 20 & 21 - Soils on the Landscape - North Branch
June 8-12 - Introduction to Wetland Delineation & Regulation - Shoreview
July 7 - Plant ID & Rapid FQA - Cloquet
July 21 - Plant ID & Rapid FQA - Lino Lakes
Aug. 31 - Sept 4 - Introduction to Wetland Delineation & Regulation - Cloquet
Sept. 14-18 - Introduction to Wetland Delineation & Regulation - Brainerd
Oct. 13 & 14 - Functional Assessment Method - Shoreview
Nov. 18 - WCA Rule Virtual Training (registration opens summer 2026)
Dec. 8 - New Normal?: Emerging Topics in the Wetland World -St Paul
MWPCP Registration Information:
Registration for Introduction to Wetland Delineation & Regulation opens March 9: Registration Link
Registration for all remaining courses opens March 16 (unless noted otherwise): Registration Link
Technical Training & Certification Program Trainings
Tech Talk Webinars: Mondays at 1 p.m.
- May 18, Minnesota Core Competency Conservation Training (MNC3)
- June 15, Farm Economics – Livestock
- July 13, Job Approval Authority
- Sept. 21, Individual Development Plan Tool
- Nov. 16, Technical Training Resources
May
June
July
August
September
October
- Jan. 13-Oct. 13, SFEC's 2026 Webinar Series, SFEC, Online
- Feb. 9-Oct. 29, Livestock 101 Webinar Training Series - Part II, Conservation Webinars, Online
- May 28, Field Applications to Fire Dependent Forest Ecosystems, SFEC, Cloquet Forestry Center
- June 2, Northern hardwoods silviculture: What's next after creating gaps?, SFEC, Aitkin
- June 3, MN Forest Management Guidelines Field Workshop, SFEC, Hackensack
- June 3, Native Plant Tour & Field Identification Workshop, PF and Xerces, Brainerd
- June 9, Cover Crop Academy, UMN Extension, Multiple Locations
- June 10, On Site Biochar Demonstration, Great River Greening, Melrose
- June 12, On Site Biochar Demonstration, Great River Greening, Brainerd
- June 17, Ecological Silviculture Applications to Mesic Hardwood Forests, SFEC, Grand Rapids
- June 18, Early Season Plant ID, PF and Xerces, Cannon Falls
- June 18, Field Silviculture Application to Wet and Ash Dominated Forests, SFEC, Cass Lake
- June 25, Forest Pest First Detector Training, UMN Extension, Cloquet Forestry Center
- July 7, Into the Field: Early Stage Plant and Weed ID, PF and Xerces, Sleepy Eye
- July 13, Planning Conservation for Bobwhite Quail, PF and Audubon, Houston County
- July 28, Recognizing and Managing Oak Wilt, SFEC, St. Croix State Park
- July 29-30, Field School for Ag Professionals, UMN Extension, St. Paul
- Aug. 4, Roots to Recognition: Plant ID for Conservation, PF and Xerces, McGregor
- Aug. 31, Mid Season Plant ID, PF and Xerces, Cannon Falls
Not all training takes place in a classroom. Check out the links below to learn at a time and place of your choosing.
We’ve also put together a searchable library of recorded modules, webinars, videos and other resources to help our staff and partners find professional development information on a variety of topics. You can visit BWSR's Online Learning page to find web-based technical training resources sorted by category
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