Project Search
Since its inception in 2004, CIG has funded hundreds of projects, boosting natural resource conservation while helping producers improve the health of their operations for the future. Use this tool to search for CIG projects based on any of the criteria listed below.
CIG projects from 2004-2009 may be missing information in the following categories: Resource Concern (specific), Conservation Practice, Production/Use.
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Showing 1671 - 1680 of 1802 projects
Universal Entech, LLC
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AZ
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2005
Effective water conservation practices are a growing concern in the US, especially in the arid West and Southwest regions that are experiencing high population growth and intense demands on water supplies. Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are large water consumers and are under increasing pressure to develop best management practices (BMPs) that address water conservation measures. Many BMPs for agricultural producers, specifically CAFOs, simultaneously address water conservation along with water quality. Facultative lagoons and land application are standard nutrient management methods used by CAFOs, but these methods are suspected sources of nitrate contamination of ground and surface waters. Aeration, anaerobic digestions and constructed wetlands are alternative treatment methods, but these techniques alone cannot remove sufficient nutrients to make treated wastewater reusable, and therefore advanced nutrient removal strategies are sought. An innovative technology for nutrient management and water treatment is large-scale algae culture technology. Integrating our innovative technology into CAFO comprehensive nutrient management plans and systems is based on photosynthetic microalgae using solar Energy to rapidly uptake nitrogen and phosphorous (N and P), and in the process producing clean water for reuse. This CAFO wastewater treatment and water recycling/conservation project is designed to showcase and transfer a proven, high-rate, algal filtration concept which requires minimal land space or manual supervision to treat and recycle high-strength CAFO wastewaters.
Heifer International
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AR
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2005
Management Intensive Prescribed Grazing (MIPG) is a well documented yet still innovative approach to managing resource problems such as overgrazing and erosion. Prescribed grazing involves managing the controlled harvest of vegetation with grazing animals and planning for the subsequent regrowth and its utilization, according to producer objectives. Many producers have yet to adopt this practice because it is a complex way of managing the Farm-level system and requires a significant investment in planning and monitoring of the farm. Given the challenges of implementing MIPG, limited resource farmers in particular resist adoption. With their restricted resources of time and money, these producers must see that conservation practices have an economic benefit before they can justify implementation. The purpose of this project is to develop and pilot an innovative, comprehensive training program to help limited resource farmers understand and implement MIPG Practices.
Flint River SWCD
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GA
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2005
The lower portion of the Flint River Basin serves as one of the most agriculturally intensive areas in the state of Georgia. Home to more than 5,000 center pivot irrigation systems irrigating approximately 650,000 acres, the Flint River Basin’s ground and surface water resources are challenged to sustain economic yield without sacrificing the biodiversity of the Flint River and its tributaries. Changing weather patterns, droughts, and low market prices continually challenge farmers to produce high yields with less money. Farmers cannot afford to risk economic stability by using less water unless they have some credible means to find that they already are applying sufficient water. Faced with this irrigation scheduling battle, farmers in the Flint River Basin are in dire need of a system that takes the guesswork out of irrigation scheduling, and provides the validation needed to insure others that the water resources of the basin are being used in an efficient and effective manner. The purpose of this project is to move real time soil moisture monitoring into the hands of the farmer to be used for irrigation scheduling. Less than 5% of farmers in Georgia are currently using some form of soil moisture monitoring, though it is thought to be the principle way to determine the effectiveness of irrigation application. This project will set up a telemetry network to transmit soil moisture data from the field to the Internet via a wireless network. Farmers will have the ability to read irrigation scheduling reports, pivot location, and other crop management information from a handheld computer in the field.
National Center for Appropriate Technology
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MT
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2005
Cotton fields are generally sprayed with a diverse group of insecticides. Impacts on nontarget organisms, as well as soil, air, and water resources, can be significant. Pesticide expenses also represent a significant cost to cotton producers. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate and evaluate the efficacy of installing beneficial insect Habitat plantings in and adjacent to cotton fields. Results from initial testing indicate that beneficial plantings, not commonly used by producers, can reduce pesticide applications by over 60%.
Washington State University
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WA
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2005
According to the EPA’s Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) rule released in 2003, livestock and poultry operations defined as CAFOs are required to have a Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) by December 2006. For those that choose to develop a CNMP, which in most cases will satisfy the NMP requirement, there will be an immediate need for an understanding of the Feed Management element of the CNMP. Animal feed represents the largest import of nutrients onto farms, followed by commercial fertilizer. Although many NRCS employees are trained in developing most components of a CNMP, they often have little or no educational background in feed management. This project will develop, test, evaluate, and implement a National Feed Management Education Program and Assessment Tools. The project will help NRCS staff and agricultural professionals increase their understanding of feed management techniques and technologies in order to be able to adequately assist producers as they develop CNMPs to comply with the CAFO rule.
University of Wyoming
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WY
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2005
Wyoming is in the fifth year of a drought that has left most of the state in either an Extreme or Exceptional drought category. Reduction in surface water flows cause livestock to find more resilient water sources including rivers and streams. Damage to riparian areas and contamination of these water sources by livestock waste create significant environmental concerns. The purpose of this project is to install and evaluate the use of solar and wind powered sock water pumps in remote grazing areas of Wyoming. The common use of small diesel or propane engines to power remote electricity service lines creates noise and air pollution, and creates inefficiencies for a rancher’s grazing operation. Using solar or wind powered water pumps is a time-saving and environmentally beneficial solution in remote grazing areas. These technologies, however, have yet to gain widespread acceptance, due mainly to the newness of the technology and the initial cost of the pumping systems.
Texas Ag Experiment Station-Texas A&M
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TX
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2005
The Southern Plains, which stretch from northern Oklahoma through Texas into Mexico, represent an important component of the regional economy in the southern USA. Maintaining or restoring ecosystem health and resilience is a critical social imperative to ensure the future supply of the ecosystem services they supply, which are critical for the future well-being for human societies in the region. However, fire suppression, overgrazing, ineffective brush control, and periodic drought have led to continuing conversion of open grasslands and savannas to woodlands dominated by honey mesquite and juniper species. A key issue for cost-effectively restoring the health of the Southern Plains ecosystems is the reintroduction of periodic fires, including occasional hot summer burns. Despite evidence of the ecological benefits resulting from summer fires, their use is not endorsed by NRCS and others under common summertime environmental conditions. Reintroducing summer fires is also complicated by the fact that landscape-level ecological changes have interconnected environmental and human dimensions. The purpose of this project is to assess the feasibility of restoring rangeland health in the Southern Plains using periodic summer fires. The project will integrate ecological, economic, and social parameters in this assessment, which will result in recommendations on potential policy/practice changes to producers, NRCS, and other stakeholders
Missouri & Mississippi Divide RC&D, Inc.
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IA
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2005
Cornell University
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NY
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2005
Agricultural wastewater such as silage effluent, milkhouse wastewater, and other manure contaminated runoff is an environmental challenge for many livestock farms. A common approach to managing livestock production area wastewater in New York is to collect and distribute it for treatment in a vegetated filter area (VFA). Little is known, however, about the expected or actual reduction and fate of nutrients and other contaminants in wastewater treated by VFAs installed according to existing conservation practice standards. The purpose of this project is to characterize the environmental effectiveness and improve VFA methods for treating livestock production area wastewater. Hydrology information, water quality concerns, environmental engineering principles, and soil biochemical processes will be integrated to comprehensively evaluate VFA effectiveness, and the results used to improve the design and implementation procedures of the conservation practice standard for treating high concentration agricultural wastewater.
Pennsylvania State University
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PA
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2005
Land application of manure is one of the most important conservation issues facing livestock operators in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. A large body of research has revealed how application of manure to soil can enrich nitrogen in groundwater or phosphorous in surface runoff. Recent changes in criteria for air quality regulations have made ammonia volatization from livestock manure a priority issue. Manure can also impact emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. An ever-expanding suburban fringe has resulted in a growing number of odor complaints. These concerns highlight the need to understand environmental and agronomic trade-offs when developing conservation strategies. Practices that control one conservation concern can exacerbate another. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the environmental and agronomic effects of several manure application systems (e.g., pressurized injection, surface application followed by tillage incorporation) to identify systems that optimally address multiple priority environmental concerns.