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 721 - 730 of 1802 projects
White River Irrigation District
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AR
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2013
About 2.5 million acres of rice is produced in the lower portion of the Mississippi River Basin. This represents approximately 75 percent of the Nations rice production. 100 percent of these acres utilize flood irrigation methods to manage nutrients, control weeds, and provide water to meet plant requirements. Production practices, irrigation water management methods, drainage water management practices, and nutrient management methods are similar across the region. Researchers have been testing alternative rice-growing practices that are common in the Far East but have so far seen limited adoption in the lower Mississippi Valley rice growing region. The goals of this project are to: 1) implement the new rice production practices on 10 percent (200,000 acres) of the rice production acres by 2016; 2) develop an analysis tool that assesses rice production practice options and economic risks; 3) develop a record keeping tool that tracks farmer decisions and is acceptable for carbon trading; and 4) develop an automated mapping capability using satellite imagery to map soil moisture, water use, and track rice practice adoption across the region.
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
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DC
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2013
This project will build on efforts by researchers, cooperative extension specialists and Bay area farmers to advance the deployment of both liquid and solid manure injection technologies in high-density animal production regions of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Manure injection technology - including the subsurface application of both solid and liquid manures - couples enhanced soil health and fertility with water quality improvements through reduced emissions of valuable nutrients to the environment. The project will also seek to engage the private sector to expand adoption of manure injection systems through collaboration with nutrient management planners and custom manure applicators. Partners will build on previous successes and base next steps on lessons learned to address technical barriers in a promising solid manure injection technology and expand demonstration and producer outreach for liquid manure injection systems that have been successfully reengineered for use in rocky soils characteristic of upland areas of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
U. S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities
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SC
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2013
Recognizing that conserving forests is a cost-effective, common-sense strategy for securing clean drinking water and other watershed services, stakeholders nationwide seek to harness the power of incentives to promote conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of forests and other working lands. A comparative assessment is essential for developing a collective understanding of best practices in the use of incentives for source water protection. This project will meet a strong demand from watershed stakeholders nationwide for tools and guidance to improve the success and financial sustainability of incentive-based approaches to forested watershed conservation. This will, in turn, increase the likelihood of positive engagement in such programs by EQIP-eligible landowners. Project results will also be useful for NRCS grantmaking and technical assistance programs. Improving the success of source water protection projects will provide new revenue streams for landowners, protect drinking water sources, and conserve important wildlife Habitat. Results from this analysis of previously-funded NRCS projects will enhance the success of future efforts, saving time and money and accelerating conservation outcomes.
Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalition
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NV
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2013
Expansion and encroachment of pinyon-juniper woodlands into sagebrush steppe ecosystems can have negative impacts, including loss of wildlife Habitat, increased erosion, and loss of herbaceous species. Field demonstration activities carried out through this project will assess the impact of applying biochar in production agriculture and rangeland restoration settings near pinyon-juniper encroachment areas. Turning woody biomass into biochar, and then returning biochar to the soil may be an effective method for maintaining or improving soil moisture and vegetative productivity, improve sage grouse Habitat, and return soil carbon to historic levels. This technique is expected to reduce the overall cost of invasive pinyon-juniper treatment (by creating a value for invasive species woody biomass), helping stimulate the local economy.
North Carolina Foundation for Soil and Water Conservation, Inc.
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NC
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2013
This project will focus on the development of a Habitat exchange system framework for wildlife species mitigation at an ecosystem level with an emphasis on market-based conservation and Certainty Program models within the traditional range of the longleaf pine ecosystem in eastern North Carolina. The integration of these approaches will present a substantial innovation in the delivery of wildlife Habitat conservation on a landscape scale and provide a pilot model approach that can be expanded and replicated regionally within the ecosystem and nationally to address other ecosystem needs.
Iowa State University of Science and Technology
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IA
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2013
Research shows that Iowa contributes 10 to 17 percent of nitrogen and 5 to 10 percent of phosphorus delivery to the Gulf of Mexico. The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy’s science assessment has indicated Cover Crops have the potential to mitigate nitrate-nitrogen losses by up to 31 percent as the living Cover Crops will readily take up residual fertilizer nitrogen and mineralized soil nitrogen between maturity and planting of cash crops. Cover Crops also have the potential to reduce phosphorus export by up to 29 percent through reduced soil erosion. This project will demonstrate and evaluate cover crop mixtures using emerging technologies and implement on 15 demonstration sites throughout Iowa; identify and address cover crop establishment and management challenges to help farmers achieve concurrent goals of a healthy ecosystem and maintaining top-end cash grain crop yields and profitability; and educate extension and outreach specialists, state and federal agency field staff, crop consultants and farmers about the soil and water quality benefits of Cover Crops.
North Carolina State University
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NC
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2013
Nitrogen management on corn silage and grain acres is costly and risky for producers. Inefficient crop nitrogen use limits yield and results in increased water and air pollution. Nitrogen application is generally the largest fossil fuel input on corn grain acres. Excessive nitrate levels in groundwater and nitrogen-induced hypoxia in estuarine areas from agricultural sources are persistent concerns for human and ecosystem health. Nitrous oxide lost from soil, which traps about 300 times more heat per molecule than CO2, constitutes agriculture’s largest global warming source. As the largest user of nitrogen fertilizer, corn production is the principal contributor to these problems from cropping systems. The primary project objectives are threefold: 1) to improve the accuracy and value of NRCS nutrient management investments through the 590 Standard in NC by updating the data upon which recommendations for nitrogen (N) rates are made--the realistic yield expectation (RYE) table for corn; 2) to determine whether Adapt-N, an in-season tool developed in the Northeast United States, can be used to make improved corn N-rate recommendations in the South and thereby reduce N loss to the environment; 3) to provide expanded corn N-rate information to the Multistate Coordination Committee and Information Exchange Group, NEERA-1002 (Adaptive Management for Improved Nutrient Management), as the group moves towards its vision of developing a national database that will use meta-data analysis to increase the reliability of N-rate recommendations for corn
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
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VA
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2013
The Chesapeake Bay and its watershed have been the focus of much public attention and substantial conservation efforts. However, despite four decades of efforts to reduce non-point source nutrient pollution, excess nutrient delivery continues to persist in many parts of the watershed. Controlling nutrient loss from artificially drained agricultural lands on the Atlantic Coastal Plain requires a comprehensive approach that includes field and drainage management practices to address production and water quality concerns. This project seeks to integrate field and drainage management practices to develop, demonstrate and test a comprehensive approach to drainage management that can be readily adopted by producers on the Coastal Plain. Working closely with conservation personnel and producers, comprehensive drainage/ditch management systems will be installed and effectiveness demonstrated on the Coastal Plain of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Technologies to be incorporated include gypsum curtains, biofilter curtains, biofilter reactors, active drainage management, and low-disturbance ditch maintenance practices. These field activities will be closely coupled with educational activities aimed at producers, drainage districts and conservation personnel. Feedback from producers, drainage districts and conservation personnel will be used to adjust the practice development and implementation.
University of Georgia
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GA
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2013
The current inability to develop credible, accurate nutrient budgets when using Cover Crops in a rotation limits adoption and use of Cover Crops, resulting in continued soil health degradation and excessive fertilization/water quality impacts. This project will demonstrate the effectiveness of a new tool (MinImob) to manage nitrogen from Cover Crops. MinImob calculates how much nitrogen should be available based on soil type and other localized parameters. Demonstrations will be established at five farms over two years. The benefits of using Minlmob will be transferred and communicated to producers using factsheets, field days, workshops, newsletters, and websites.
U. S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities
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SC
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2013
Forestland in the Southeastern U.S. is threatened by alternative land uses and historically underserved landowners are in some cases losing ownership of historic rural family land. Through introduction of new forestry technologies, creation of comprehensive systems of land owner outreach and support, increased access to Farm Bill programs such as those administered by NRCS, and increased access to traditional and emerging forest products markets, the project will restore, enhance, and conserve privately-owned African American forestland in the southern U. S. Well-managed forests increase income, asset value, and long-term land retention. Land returned to healthy forests will also have beneficial conservation and environmental impacts.