Certified Crop Adviser Test Prep Available Online

Nov 12, 2019

Iowans who want to become a certified crop adviser should take note of upcoming exam dates, as well as an Iowa State University Extension and Outreach online training course intended to help them prepare.

The next certified crop adviser exam is Feb. 7, and registration for the exam continues through Dec. 13.

By Robert Hartzler

The online review course is divided into the four major exam competency areas, with a total of 26 modules and nearly eight hours of recorded programming.

Each module includes a practice quiz of up to 10 questions, randomly selected from a pool of questions. A practice exam covering information from all modules is also available, and consists of 100 randomly selected questions.

“The practice quizzes can identify a person’s weak areas and allow them to focus on subjects where they need to improve,” said Bob Hartzler, professor in agronomy and extension weed specialist at Iowa State University.

According to Hartzler, the online course is an ideal way for participants to prepare, because it compiles all of the necessary information into one place, in a way that allows participants to review and refresh their understanding of current standards.

The online course is available through the ISU Extension and Outreach Store and is offered at a cost of $100. This does not include registration for the actual exam.

Source : iastate.edu

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.