Practice Areas and Standards

A Practice Area (PA) is defined as an area of expertise that requires specialized knowledge, skills and experience. PAs identify functional areas of practice within the profession of agrology as uniquely as possible. A description of practice areas can be found by clicking HERE.

NOTE: In-training members must have attained the required practice-area-specific work EXPERIENCE in at least one practice area within which they are currently active, before they apply for the RTAg or PAg title. Granting the RTAg or PAg title will not be considered by the Registration Committee until the educational and work experience requirements of the selected practice standard are met.

Once the RTAg or PAg title has been attained, independent professional practice as a PAg or RTAg requires that the practice-area-specific work experience has been attained for any practice area within which the RTAg or PAg wishes to provide professional services. Also, the knowledge requirements described in the respective practice standard(s) must be met before providing professional services in an additional practice area.

Detailed practice standards describe the knowledge, experience, skill sets and performance standards for professional practice within a practice area. Fifteen detailed practice standards exist for the practice areas listed in the table below.

Practice Area	Practice Standard
Agricultural Marketing and Sales	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard
Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard
Assessment, Remediation and Management of Contaminated Land	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard
Biophysical Classification and Evaluation	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard
Crop Production	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard
Environmental Monitoring	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard
Greenhouse Gas Assessment and Management (Agricultural)	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard
Land Conservation and Management	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard
Land Reclamation	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard
Livestock Production	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard
Management	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard
Rangeland and Pasture Management	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard
Rural Development and Support	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard
Water Resources Planning and Management	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard
Wetland and Riparian Areas	This Practice Area has a new Practice Standard

As the institute develops practice standards for the remaining 4 practice areas they will be added to the table above. Until a practice area has an existing practice standard, the core knowledge table will continue to provide guidance to members on knowledge requirements for each practice area. The following table (Click Here) provides members with the current practice areas and core knowledge areas.

Practice Area	Core Knowledge Areas
Biosystems, Biosolids, Compost and Manure Management	Compost Development and Management OR Digestion Systems OR Energy and Biogas Production	Residuals (Waste) Management OR Materials Handling and Processing OR Odour Control	Land Application OR Livestock System OR Cropping System	Biochemistry OR Organic Chemistry OR Inorganic Chemistry	Soil Chemistry OR Soil Fertility OR Soil Physics	Microbiology OR Plant/Soil Relations OR Contaminant Fate and Behaviour
Environmental Impact Assessment and Mitigation Planning	Environmental Impact Assessment Methodology OR Environmental Mgt Systems OR Mitigation Planning	Soil Conservation/ Reclamation OR Soil Classification OR Soil Chemistry	Hydrology OR Water Quality OR Erosion Control	Environmental Regulations OR Project Management OR Environmental Planning	Ecology OR Biophysical Inventory	Socio- Economic Planning OR Environmental Economics OR Stakeholder Engagement
Food Development and Processing	Food Processing Technologies OR Food Product Development	Food Policy OR Food Legislation	Food Nutrition OR Food Biochemistry	Food Microbiology	Quality Assurance OR Food Safety Systems	Food Chemistry
Regulatory Support and Consultation	Agricultural, Environmental and Food Legislation OR Policy	Stakeholder Communications OR Stakeholder consultation and mediation	Resource management OR Environmental Protection OR Impact Assessment	Crop Production OR Animal Production OR Wildlife Management OR Food Production	Conservation Planning OR Reclamation Planning OR Systems Planning	Regulatory Compliance Reporting

Practice Areas and Standards

Alberta Institute of Agrologists

Search the website