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Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP)

Upcoming Events

CNMP Development Course - February 25-27, 2008
Louisville Downtown Marriott, Louisville, KY
Registration and additional information

CNMP Provider Follow-up Courses -
Session 1 - AWM Software, February 7, 9:30 - noon, Ottawa, Ohio
Session 2 - MMP Software, February 20, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Ottawa, Ohio
Session 3 - Nutrient Planning Course, February 28, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Lima, Ohio
Session 4 - RUSL2, March 13, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Ottawa, Ohio
Session 5 - Site Assessment, April 10 (tentative), 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Auglaize County, Ohio
Registration and additional information

Great Lakes Manure Handling Expo - The Economics of Recycling, July 9, London, Ohio

The CNMP Development Course is being offered in coordination with Iowa State University and the Natural Resource Conservation Service. The CNMP Development Course provides the educational component of the ISU TSP CNMP certification program. This three-day short course is designed to train individuals in the development of Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans (CNMPs).

The training will provide 22 professional development hours for professional engineers. 18 hours of CCA continuing education in the area of Nutrient Management and Soil and Water have been applied for. The course can also be used to provide 22 hours of update training for current Technical Service Providers.
 

Ohio's CNMP Certification Process2.7 acre Anaerobic Lagoon that stores 7.8 million gallons of manure and wastewater for a 4,000 head Baby Pig Nursery in Darke County; photo by Jim Bennett

A Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP) describes and documents a conservation system within a conservation plan that is unique to animal feeding operations.

At a minimum, a CNMP must address quality criteria to the sustainable level for soil erosion and water quality for the planning unit associated with the animal feeding operation. Conservation planning activities associated with the development of a CNMP should attempt to achieve a CNMP that addresses quality criteria to the RMS level for all five natural resources (soil, water, air, plants, and animals).

A certified CNMP developer must be a certified conservation planner.  NRCS-Ohio has established the minimum requirement for conservation planning certification for CNMP purposes only: completion of NRCS Conservation Planning Modules 1-5 (on-line) offered from the National Employee Development Center (NEDC) through AgLearn. TSP's who are certified to develop CNMP's must maintain their certifications for a 3-year period. NRCS-Ohio recognizes the following programs for CNMP certification:

General Requirements

Certified Crop Advisors (CCA's) must meet the following NRCS-Ohio requirements in order to be certified in CNMP development. The document "Ohio's CNMP Certification Process" provides the details for obtaining certification (the information presented on this web page).  The document “Ohio CNMP Certification Flow Chart” outlines the certification process.

Once TSP applicants meet the appropriate certification requirements the TSP application process is completed in TechReg.

These documents require Adobe Acrobat.

Ohio's CNMP Certification Process (66 Kb)
Adobe Acrobat DocumentOhio CNMP Certification Flow Chart (64 Kb) 

CNMP Category, CNMP Development - Nutrient Management, and CNMP Development - Land Treatment
  1. Be a Certified Crop Advisor (CCA), plus either option A or B described below:

Option A:  Attend one of the approved certifying programs listed above. Upon successful completion of the course as provided in the certifying entity records, the applicant can be certified for the CNMP categories designated by the certifying entity.  Following certification the applicant can be certified through TechReg, however NRCS will review the first CNMP completed by the TSP prior to it’s acceptance for a NRCS program.

Option B: Complete all of the following:

  1. NRCS Conservation Planning, Part 1: Modules 1-5 (on-line course)
  2. NRCS Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG) (on-line course)
  3. TSP Orientation
  4. *Competence in Ohio’s Phosphorus and Nitrogen Risk Index Tool
  5. *Competence in applying RUSLE2
    6.

*Competence will be measured by submitting a satisfactory CNMP plan for review. If the plan reviewed is not satisfactory, the CCA will be required to attend one of the approved CNMP certifying programs listed above.

In addition the applicant is required to complete a CNMP for NRCS review and approval.  Once the CNMP is accepted by NRCS the applicant can apply for CNMP Development – Land Treatment and CNMP Development – Nutrient Management through TechReg.

CNMP Development – Manure & Wastewater Storage & Handling (as sole category)
  1. Be a Professional Engineer licensed in Ohio
  2. Complete all of the following:

    1. NRCS Conservation Planning, Part 1: Modules 1-5 (on-line course)
    2. TSP Orientation
    3. NRCS Agricultural Waste Management Systems- Level 2 (on-line course)
    4. NRCS Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG) (on-line course)

Upon Completion of the above requirements the applicant can be certified through TechReg, however NRCS will need to review the first CNMP developed by the applicant either as a stand alone document, or as a component of complete CNMP developed jointly with others certified for remaining components.

CNMP Development – Total Plan

1. Be a Certified Crop Advisor (CCA), plus either option A or B described below:

Option A:  Attend one of the approved certifying programs listed above. Upon successful completion of the course as provided in the certifying entity records, the applicant can be certified for the CNMP categories designated by the certifying entity.  Following certification the applicant can be certified through Techreg, however NRCS will review the first CNMP completed by the TSP prior to it’s acceptance for a NRCS program.

Option B:  Complete all of the following:

  1. NRCS Conservation Planning, Part 1: Modules 1-5 (on-line course)
  2. TSP Orientation
  3. NRCS Agricultural Waste Management Systems- Level 2 (on-line course)
  4. NRCS Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG) (on-line course)
  5. *Competence in Ohio’s Phosphorus and Nitrogen Risk Index Tool
  6. *Competence in applying RUSLE2

*Competence will be measured by submitting a satisfactory CNMP plan for review. If the plan reviewed is not satisfactory, the CCA will be required to attend one of the approved CNMP certifying programs listed above.

In addition the applicant is required to complete a CNMP for NRCS review and approval.  Once the CNMP is accepted by NRCS the applicant can apply for CNMP Development –Total Plan through TechReg.

CNMP Development – Plan Approval

All the requirements for CNMP Development – Total Plan, plus be a Certified Conservation Planner

*Competence will be measured by submitting a satisfactory CNMP plan for review. If the plan reviewed is not satisfactory, the CCA will be required to attend one of the approved CNMP certifying programs listed above.

All on-line courses are offered through the National Employee Development Center (NEDC).  Individuals are required to submit documentation to the Ohio NRCS TSP coordinator that they have completed the course requirements.

All TSP's completing one of the approved CNMP certifying programs will be certified once the TechReg application is submitted. However, they are required to submit a completed CNMP plan to be reviewed by an NRCS certified planner. CCA's who do not attend one of the formal CNMP certifying programs will be required to take the on-line courses listed above and submit a satisfactory plan to be reviewed before certification. NRCS-Ohio requires that CNMP's conform to the Ohio Statements of Work (SOW) which can be found on the Ohio e-FOTG web site.

State TSP Coordinators

Mike Monnin
State Conservation Engineer
NRCS
200 N. High St., Rm. 522
Columbus, OH 43215
PH: (614) 255-2488

Last Modified: 02/22/2008