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.
Project and Report Search Toggle
Showing 21 - 30 of 1802 projects
World Wildlife Fund
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IA, OK
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2023
The innovation advanced in this project is the testing of a novel market mechanism called the beef emissions tracing and allocation (BETA) framework for producing beef products with verified quantitative carbon outcomes. The Framework will cover the full lifecycle footprint from pasture to feed yards to processors and by-products, which creates greater opportunity for producer recognition of and reward for sustainability improvements that benefit climate and nature. The Framework will be anchored in actual farm-level measurement and validated through targeted implementation culminating in a project report and publicly available methodology.
Bishop Museum
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HI
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2023
accelerate conservation and alleviate the critically limited availability of native seeds, we will create a native seed supply producer network across the island of Oʻahu with private landowners committed to restoring native forest ecosystems and contributing to the growth of an emerging native seed industry. Second, to address an existing information gap, we will leverage our extensive database of historical plant occurrence records to produce an online map-based system to assist conservation entities and seed industry partners with information on what species to plant in any particular area across the State of Hawaiʻi, given current and future climate scenarios.
HGS LLC
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WI
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2023
demonstrate how a scalable “pay-for-outcomes” program could function, funded by USDA, through the Wisconsin Statewide Clearinghouse for Water Quality Trading. We will evaluate the efficiency of paying for nutrient reduction outcomes compared to paying for practices. We will also reduce barriers to entry for producers to engage in the “pay-for-outcomes” program.
Kings River Watershed Coalition Authority
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CA
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2023
This project is innovative because it will implement, for the very first time in California, a locally-relevant conservation strategy informed by 1) numeric, township-scale nutrient reduction goals developed in 2022 for the protection of local groundwater quality, 2) practice-specific interventions identified through analysis of producer-reported management practice data from 2020-2022, and 3) three peer-reviewed studies published in 2021, 2022, and 2023 that explicitly address barriers to adoption and provide useful information for designing a strategy to motivate adoption of protective management practices.
University of North Dakota
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ND
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2023
The project will develop a decision-supporting tool to guide land manager seed mix choices based on the observed ecological efficacy and estimated economic performance to promote pollinator conservation planting adoption. Working with three Tribal colleges, the interactive web-based seed mix planning tool will incorporate indigenous knowledge of native plant species and management practices for supporting pollinators on Tribal lands and lands enrolling in conservation programs in North Dakota.
Colorado Open Lands
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CO
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2023
Colorado’s most productive farmland is also the most highly valued for development and water rights, making it financially inaccessible to Beginning Farmers and Ranchers and threatening the long-term viability of the region’s agricultural economy. Colorado Open Lands and team will create a financial tool that can help Beginning Farmers and Ranchers purchase productive land while implementing Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices, water sharing opportunities, and permanently conserving Colorado’s best soils and senior water rights in agriculture.
NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY
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AZ, NM
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2023
NMSU, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range and USDA-Southwestern Climate Hub will collaborate with ranchers of the Malpai Borderlands Group to apply grazing land conservation tools and technologies aiming to enhance climate-smart decision making at ranch scales. Dashboards for surveillance of livestock welfare coupled with virtual fencing technology, remote sensing tools, and systems to monitor weather and livestock drinking water will be implemented across ca 800,000 acres of arid rangeland participating in habitat conservation easements, ranch grass bank programs, and landscape restoration initiatives. On-farm trials will document ecological, economic, and management tradeoffs, climate-smart decision making, and ranchers’ confidence for meeting grazing land conservation goals.
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
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AL
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2023
Eight on-farm trials across major agricultural row crop production areas of Alabama will be established to demonstrate a systems approach to input use efficiency crop management. Although this project will include several crop management practices intended to strengthen environmental sustainability, the major NRCS priority targeted will be Nutrient Management. Smart Nitrogen (N) management practices demonstrated include: fertigation, use of enhanced efficiency fertilizers, tools for prediction of in-season N rate, as well as variable rate N, water and seed. Demonstrations of irrigation scheduling tools and best herbicide management will be included. Social and economic studies of barriers to adoption of the practices demonstrated will be included.
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
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NY
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2023
Recent advancements in the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS) model version 7 have given Cornell University the ability to formulate diets which meet ruminal requirements for nitrogen with much more precision and allow for formulation for all essential amino acids for milk yield and milk components in high producing lactating cows. This project will incentivize adoption of feed management practices on high producing dairy herds in central NY with financial and technical assistance, while evaluating the production, environmental, economic, and social impacts of this practice. We will also share case studies and lessons learned with other dairy nutritionists, producers, and industry professionals to help foster broader adoption across the industry.
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
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AL
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2023
Through combined research and Extension programs, Auburn University has identified two methods for achieving climate-smart beef production objectives: supplemental feeding and inclusion of plant secondary metabolite-producing forbs in forage-based beef cow-calf systems. Auburn University will incentivize producers to adopt either or both practices in their operations and collect production and environmental responses to evaluate farm-level effects of these research-validated practices. Data collected will be used to update a systems dynamics model for pasture ecosystems, and this model will be used as a tool to assess farm- and region-level environmental implications of practice adoption.