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 731 - 740 of 1802 projects
Women, Food and Agriculture Network
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IA
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2013
Women now own or co-own 50 percent of the farmland in Iowa, and the percentage of those who are sole landowners is rising as they inherit land from spouses and fathers. Comparable data are not available in neighboring states, but similar demographics and agricultural systems are present. A typical Midwestern female farmland owner is 65 and older, leases farmland to a tenant, and is highly interested in conservation and preserving her farm for the next generation. Women, Food and Agriculture Network has been working with Midwest women farmland owners for 16 years. The project goal is to improve soil health across seven states in the upper Midwest by increasing soil health literacy among area women farmland owners, and supporting their efforts to improve soil health on the land they own and lease. The women landowners will learn the basics of what constitutes healthy soil, some simple soil testing methods, and best management practices to support healthy soil that they can discuss and adopt with their tenants. A set of publications for women farmland owners about managing for healthy soil will also be developed in consultation with an advisory group of women farmland owners.
American Rivers
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NV
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2013
Increasing the area of frequently inundated floodplains is an important element in state and federal plans to restore endangered species and reduce flood risk in the Central Valley of California. Restoring some 100,000 acres of floodplain Habitat is a major focus of these efforts because of the demonstrated benefit for juvenile salmon and the other ecosystem services that floodplains provide, including flood attenuation, nutrient cycling, groundwater recharge, and Habitat for other fish species. Collaboration with private landowners is essential to achieving the massive restoration goals of these state and federal plans. Establishment of a market, called the Central Valley Habitat Exchange, will provide a mechanism to compensate growers and ranchers for land stewardship activities that create quantifiable floodplain Habitat benefits. The model and practices developed by this Exchange will be broadly applicable to floodplains and agricultural lands across the United States.
The University of Tennessee
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TN
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2013
Cotton, soybean, and corn are the major crops in Tennessee and the Mid-South region. Increasing the competitiveness of these crops in global markets and minimizing the adverse impacts of their production on natural resources and environment remains a big challenge. The objectives of this project are to: 1) demonstrate and quantify the long-term impacts of Cover Crops, crop rotations, and no-tillage systems and their interactions on soil chemical, physical, and biological properties; 2) demonstrate and quantify cover crop relationships with nutrient cycling, soil water availability, and cotton, soybean, and corn productivity; 3) demonstrate and quantify the differences in nutrient and available water holding capacity of soil systems under long-term no-tillage with Cover Crops compared with systems using tillage with no cover crop; and 4) disseminate the results of this project to NRCS, farmers, university extension agents, private consultants, and other interested groups and individuals in Tennessee and other mid-southern states. The long-term goal is to encourage the adoption of conservation management practices and systems to improve soil health, environmental quality, crop productivity, and grower profitability.
Environmental Defense Fund, Inc
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NY
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2013
Nutrient exports from agricultural landscapes are contributors to hypoxic zones in the Gulf of Mexico, Western Lake Erie Basin and elsewhere. The goal of this project is demonstrate and document how NRCS and partners can design and implement a systems approach to agricultural conservation that builds upon and connects current efforts to achieve greater water quality improvements. The value of organizing conservation efforts at a watershed scale will be demonstrated, as it bridges the field and farm scale of traditional conservation efforts with the community and/or regional scales at which drinking water impairments and downstream hypoxia must be solved. This is a systemic and strategic approach at a larger scale, which is better suited to addressing larger water quality challenges. In addition, by incorporating downstream practices that can improve the storage and management of water, such an approach creates increased resiliency to drought and flood, helping producers cope with climatic variability.
Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District
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GA
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2013
With GPS-guided variable rate irrigation systems that are able to adapt application rates to field conditions in real-time, and new advanced irrigation scheduling tools that are cost-effective and built for both conservation and crop performance, irrigation management on the modern farm is set to make a quantum leap forward in water use efficiency. The next step in the evolution of on-farm irrigation water management is to reduce the cost of advanced irrigation scheduling from thousands of dollars to hundreds of dollars per site to make the approach accessible to all producers. The goals of the project are to develop and deploy a new low-cost tool, help up to 50 agricultural producers optimize irrigation scheduling, and build a conservation model for the future of agricultural water use in the United States.
Cornell University
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NY
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2013
To provide support to the NY NRCS Soil Health program by increasing local capacity for implementing winter cover crop plantings. To increase farmer understanding of soil health and adoption of winter cover cropping.
Kansas State University
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KS
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2013
Quantify the impact of cover crops in no-tillage crop rotations in eastern and central.
LSU AgCenter
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LA
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2013
Measure water quality of runoff from around poultry houses, demonstrate the effectiveness of in-house pasteurization, and train LSU AgCenter agents and NRCSs employees on the importance of these practices
LSU AgCenter
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LA
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2013
Demonstrate the effectiveness of planting wheat in 'spin' ditches to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff
LSU AgCenter
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LA
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2013
Demonstrate the potential for residual soil nitrogen recovery during the winter season using high nitrogen input crops such as tillage radish and annual ryegrass and for improvement of soil parameters in pastures.