Use Data Collected by Drones, EQIP incentives, and careful program evaluation to enhance economic, environmental, and social conservation planning outcomes for HU producers.

The project will collect data using drones, an innovative conservation approach, to support precision irrigation and nutrient management and improve economic, environmental, and social outcomes for historically underserved producers spanning over 12,000 acres in Mississippi. Collection and analysis of LiDAR or multi spectral imaging via drones can obviate the need for expensive precision leveling or soil and plant tissue analysis. Findings over the course of this three-year project will be carefully analyzed and evaluated, resulting in a case study that will inform future NRCS policy and establish best practices for historically underserved producers.