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Education and Teaching Materials

Education and Teaching Materials

A Soil Profile

Create a card showing soil horizons.

Education and Teaching Materials

Biology of Soil Compaction

This document describes the biology of soil compaction and how USDA-NRCS can help producers fight and reverse compaction. 

hands holding soil
Education and Teaching Materials

Block Diagrams

Locator map and list of block diagrams from published soil surveys.

Block diagrams from published soil surveys.
Education and Teaching Materials

Caribbean Pollinators Publications

Posters, factsheets and other publications about pollinators from our Caribbean Area Ecological Sciences Division.

Bee on a sunflower at Finca el Giraso in Puerto Rico.
Education and Teaching Materials

Climate Glossary

A glossary of terms commonly used in climate science.

Image of a lake in the forest with snow
Education and Teaching Materials

Conservation Finance at NRCS

Conservation finance is an emerging sector that seeks to find new financial vehicles and approaches to attract funding to conservation. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Rural Housing Service (RUS) Administrator Tammye Treviño visit to South Dakota to co-chair a StrikeForce meeting in Sisseton, SD, attend a Housing Fair, and visit homes and facilities financed by USDA, Rural Development (RD) .
Education and Teaching Materials

Conservation Planning Part 2 Training - sessions available for TSPs!

Multiple Conservation Planning Part 2 sessions are specifically being offered to Technical Service Providers and Conservation Partners who need this course for either TSP or Conservation Planner Certification.  

Limited Availability - sign up soon!

Education and Teaching Materials

Conservation Trees and Shrubs for Montana

This guide is designed as an aid for planting trees and shrubs in Montana. It can be used to select plants for windbreaks, riparian plantings, recreation, and wildlife plantings, ornamental or environmental plantings, reforestation, and critical area plantings.

Education and Teaching Materials

Conservation Webinar Portal

The Conservation Webinar Portal (NRCS Science and Technology Training Library) is a free multi-disciplinary training and extension webinar platform.

Education and Teaching Materials

Cover Crop Tips - Montana

Cover crop is one of the tools that agricultural producers can use to improve soil health. Cover crops have traditionally been used to reduce erosion or add nitrogen to soil. But they do even more.

Education and Teaching Materials

Defining LRR, MLRA, and LRU

Definitions for Land Resource Region (LRR), Major Land Resource Area (MLRA), and Land Resource Unit (LRU).

Education and Teaching Materials

Delaware NRCS Publications & Fact Sheets

Read the latest Delaware NRCS publications and fact sheets to learn how NRCS and farmers and landowners can work together to improve agricultural operations while helping the environment. (Note: All publications can be viewed using Adobe PDF unless otherwise stated.)

Agricultural operation in Delaware
Education and Teaching Materials

Dynamic Soil Properties for Soil Health (DSP4SH)

Dynamic soil properties for soil health (DSP4SH) is a Soil and Plant Science Division (SPSD)-led effort to partner with universities and others to assess a common set of soil health metrics across diverse soils, regions, and management systems. 

Two people examine a soil profile in a field.
Education and Teaching Materials

Environmental Markets at NRCS

Environmental markets are an approach that can be used to help landowners get conservation on the ground. While NRCS has substantial funding to dedicate to private lands conservation, environmental markets complement NRCS’s work by bringing private and other non-Federal investments to private lands.

The Metrolina greenhouses operation has drastically cut its energy bills by replacing a natural gas heating system with a wood boiler, funded in part with U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).
Education and Teaching Materials

Forestland Soil Health in-person training

This training course serves to expand the knowledge and application of soil health practices and soil health management systems in response to exacerbating effects of drought, wildfire, reduced soil moisture, and other factors as integral parts of the conservation planning process on forestlands. 

A hardwood forest.
Education and Teaching Materials

Guide to Pronouncing Taxonomic Terms

This guide presents a list of terms (in alphabetical order) that are used in Soil Taxonomy along with other terms used to describe soils.