Once a person becomes CCA certified, they will be required to maintain a minimum of 40 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits every 2 years with a minimum of 5 CEUs per each of the 4 main Performance Objective categories (Nutrient Management, Soil & Water Management, Integrated Pest Management and Crop Management).

CCA's can also earn a maximum of 5 CEU credits in the Professional Development cateogry per 2-year cycle; any number over the maximum 5 will not count.

If a CCA is short of the required number of CEU's by the end of their 2-year cylce, their designation will be revoked.

The Good Faith Leniency policy was eliminated at the end of the 2015 CEU cycle.  Any CCA short on CEUs at the end of their 2-year cycle will have their designation revoked.   If you feel there was extenuating circumstances that prevented you from obtaining the required number of CEUs, you can file an appeal following your termination.

Extenuating Circumstances are events that take place in the professional and personal lives of currently active CCA's. These may include, but are not limited to, loss of job, health condition, maternity leave, military service, changes of locale and position.

You will need to file the appeal (within the appropriate timeframe) in writing to the Madison, Wisconsin office. The appeal will then be forwarded to the Prairie Board for approval.

Prairie Certification Representative
5585 Guilford Road
Madison, Wisconsin
USA 53711-5801

Telephone: (608) 268-4956
Fax: (608) 273-2081

This will depend on your particular situation. The Prairie Board makes every effort to treat all of it's members fairly.

Occasionally some course providers are not yet aware of this formal system that assures CCA's have participated in training events. You can self-report this event by going to https://www.certifiedcropadviser.org/login/links/25. The form is completed on-line and it is submitted to the International Certified Crop Adviser headquarters in Wisconsin.

Your application is subject to audit by the Prairie CCA Board. If you are audited, you will need to supply documentation of your attendance and a copy of the meeting agenda and presenters.

This system provides CCA's an opportunity to accumulate CEU's even if the course provider neglects to pre-apply for credits. Many eligible professional development events like computer training, time management courses, etc. may fall within this category. This reporting system is similar to the honour system used by the Institutes of Agrology (MIA, SIA and AIA) in tracking self-reported continuing professional development. Providing false information is a violation of the CCA Code of Ethics and may cause the revocation of your CCA status.

Self-reporting is done by the individual for a training event that was attended, but CEU credits were not previously applied for. Self-study CEU's can be obtained by reviewing a written article and answering questions in a quiz.

There is no limit, but a minimum of 20 Board approved CEU's must be attained each 2-year cycle.

Self-study CEU's are obtained by reviewing a written article and answering questions in a quiz. Many self-study articles are posted on the Prairie CCA web site and on the International CCA web site and others are included in the Crop and Soils Magazine received quarterly by CCA's.

The self-study CEU quiz is returned to the American Society of Agronomy for scoring with a fee. A minimum score of 70% is required to attain the CEU.

The CCA status belongs to you, not the company or agency you work for. It is your responsibility to notify the ICCA Board of any address changes, otherwise any correspondence and renewal information will not be received by you.