Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) with Sustainability Specialty

USA / Canada / international · International Certified Crop Adviser program (American Society of Agronomy) · professional · unverified source

567practice questions written to this syllabus
26subjects

Format

International exam plus a local/regional exam for CCA; specialty certifications (Sustainability, 4R Nutrient Management) each add an exam. Experience and education requirements apply.

Sections

Over the years

The official specialty page returned a server error during this build; content is from general knowledge. The Sustainability Specialty exists as an add-on to CCA.

Official source: https://www.certifiedcropadviser.org/

Subjects this exam draws on

Soil Science & Soil Health13 questionsAtmospheric Science & Agrometeorology11 questionsClimate Change Impacts on Agriculture & Food Systems14 questionsClimate Adaptation, Climate-Smart Agriculture & Disaster Risk16 questionsAgricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions & Mitigation13 questionsSoil Organic Carbon & Carbon Sequestration14 questionsLand Degradation, Desertification & Soil Conservation4 questionsAgricultural Water Conservation, Water Footprint & Governance7 questionsWater Quality & Agricultural Non-point Source Pollution14 questionsAgrobiodiversity & Genetic Resources3 questionsEcosystem Services & Pollinators in Agricultural Landscapes19 questionsAgroecology: Principles & Practice75 questionsSustainable & Integrated Farming Systems68 questionsConservation & Regenerative Agriculture80 questionsOrganic Farming & Certification26 questionsNutrient Stewardship & Nitrogen Management20 questionsPesticides in the Environment: Fate, Risk & Reduction35 questionsAgroforestry & Trees on Farms for Sustainability32 questionsLivestock & the Environment13 questionsSustainable Food Systems, Diets & Food Loss4 questionsCarbon Accounting & Greenhouse Gas Inventories10 questionsCarbon Markets, Offsets & Payments for Ecosystem Services8 questionsCircular Economy & Bio-based Resources18 questionsEnvironmental Management Systems, Auditing & Standards22 questionsSustainability Reporting & ESG Disclosure13 questionsSustainable Agri-food Supply Chains & Deforestation-free Sourcing15 questions

Five practice questions, worked

Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.

1. What is the usual particle density of mineral soils?

  1. About 5.3 g/cm3
  2. About 1.4 g/cm3
  3. About 1.0 g/cm3
  4. About 2.65 g/cm3
Answer and working

D. About 2.65 g/cm3

Quartz and many clays are near 2.65; bulk density (with pores) is typically 1.0-1.6.

Soil Science & Soil Health · Soil physical properties: texture, structure, bulk density, porosity

2. Using the Beer–Lambert relation for a canopy, I/I₀ = exp(−k × LAI), with k = 0.45 and LAI = 4, what fraction of incident radiation is intercepted?

  1. 1.80
  2. 0.11
  3. 0.17
  4. 0.83
Answer and working

D. 0.83

Transmitted = exp(−0.45 × 4) = exp(−1.8) = 0.165; intercepted = 1 − 0.165 = 0.83. 0.17 is the transmitted fraction; 1.80 is k × LAI; 0.11 divides k by LAI.

Atmospheric Science & Agrometeorology · Radiation laws: Planck, Stefan-Boltzmann, Wien, Kirchhoff, Beer-Lambert

3. Take the Zhao et al. (2017) estimate that wheat yield falls 6.0 per cent per 1 °C of global warming, without CO₂ fertilisation or adaptation, and assume linearity. What yield would a region now producing 4.0 t ha⁻¹ expect after 2 °C of further warming?

  1. 3.52 t ha⁻¹
  2. 0.48 t ha⁻¹
  3. 3.76 t ha⁻¹
  4. 3.41 t ha⁻¹
Answer and working

A. 3.52 t ha⁻¹

Loss = 6.0% × 2 = 12%; yield = 4.0 × 0.88 = 3.52 t ha⁻¹. 3.76 applies only 1 °C; 0.48 is the loss, not the yield; 3.41 uses maize's 7.4% per °C.

Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture & Food Systems · Temperature, heat stress and crop phenology

4. A farm faces two flood types: a moderate flood with annual probability 0.10 causing a loss of 20,000, and a severe flood with annual probability 0.02 causing a loss of 100,000. What is the expected annual loss?

  1. 120,000
  2. 12,000
  3. 2,000
  4. 4,000
Answer and working

D. 4,000

EAL = 0.10 × 20,000 + 0.02 × 100,000 = 2,000 + 2,000 = 4,000. 120,000 adds the losses ignoring probability; 12,000 adds probabilities and multiplies by 100,000; 2,000 counts only one event type.

Climate Adaptation, Climate-Smart Agriculture & Disaster Risk · Vulnerability, exposure, hazard and risk

5. Why does a high-yielding dairy cow usually have lower methane per litre of milk than a low-yielding cow?

  1. Milk methane is subtracted from enteric methane in all IPCC methods
  2. High-yielding cows produce less methane per day in every type of diet
  3. High-yielding cows have no methanogens because they are fed only grain
  4. Her maintenance requirement, and its methane, is spread over more milk
Answer and working

D. Her maintenance requirement, and its methane, is spread over more milk

Maintenance feed and methane are roughly fixed per animal, so more milk dilutes them. High-yielding cows still host methanogens and often emit more per day, and nothing is 'subtracted' for milk.

Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions & Mitigation · Enteric methane and the rumen

Practise it, and prove it

These notes are free to read here, with no account.

What the Laisha app adds:

Free for ten days, then a subscription. We would rather write that here than have you find it later.

Open Laisha →