The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

Many professions require a license to practice including medicine, engineering and accounting along with others. Agronomists are no different except that their licensing is voluntary. The Certified Crop Advisor program is a professional agricultural certification that requires agronomists to pass two comprehensive exams. The CCA program is administered by the American Society of Agronomy and local state CCA boards. These exams test for expertise in nutrient management, integrated pest management, soil and water management and crop management. In addition, once licensed, Certified Crop Advisors are required to earn 40 or more hours of continuing education credits ever two years. As a result, while earning those 40 continuing education credits, Certified Crop Advisors are actively updated with the latest new agricultural technologies and developments. Should a licensed CCA not obtain the 40 continuous education credits over a two-year period, then retesting is necessary to keep an active CCA license.

Who should be certified? Field agronomists, consultants, natural resource professionals, agricultural educators and agricultural technical support personnel. The certified crop advisor program is currently a benchmark for agronomy professionals and is the largest certification program in the agricultural industry.

For more information regarding the Certified Crop Advisors program go to http://www.certifiedcropadvisor.org or call (608) 273-8085.