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.
Showing 1 - 10 of 1802 projects
TEXAS A&M AGRILIFE RESEARCH
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OK, TX
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2023
This project aims to sustainably intensify agricultural production on the Southern Great Plains
through adopting soil health management in semi-arid cropping systems. The key objectives are to: 1) identify adoption barriers to soil health management system (SHMS) and pathways to overcome them, 2) demonstrate successes through implementation on-farm and dissemination of knowledge of SHMS, 3) increase understanding of field-level processes, effects, and optimization of agricultural intensification using SHMS, 4) quantify the field and regional effects of SHMS, and 5) evaluate the economics of SHMS adoption at farm and regional scales. On-farm SHMS demonstrations will be initiated on 10 innovation and 100 observation farms within the region. We expect this project will increase cover crop adoption by 20% and no-tillage by 25% in the Southern Great Plains region and, thus, agricultural production will increase by 25% while decreasing the environmental footprint.
through adopting soil health management in semi-arid cropping systems. The key objectives are to: 1) identify adoption barriers to soil health management system (SHMS) and pathways to overcome them, 2) demonstrate successes through implementation on-farm and dissemination of knowledge of SHMS, 3) increase understanding of field-level processes, effects, and optimization of agricultural intensification using SHMS, 4) quantify the field and regional effects of SHMS, and 5) evaluate the economics of SHMS adoption at farm and regional scales. On-farm SHMS demonstrations will be initiated on 10 innovation and 100 observation farms within the region. We expect this project will increase cover crop adoption by 20% and no-tillage by 25% in the Southern Great Plains region and, thus, agricultural production will increase by 25% while decreasing the environmental footprint.
BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
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CO, NE
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2023
In partnership with the Western Sugar Cooperative, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) is undertaking a project to enhance the economic and environmental resilience of beet sugar production in Nebraska and Colorado. The objective of this project is to involve 50 beet growers in assessing the advantages of implementing a sugar yield-based N input model to promote profitable and sustainable beet production.
Sustainable Conservation
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CA
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2023
The purpose of this project is to demonstrate how an existing dairy manure subsurface drip irrigation system can be modified to further improve groundwater quality by safely applying the system on pasteurized almonds. Doing so provides dairy producers with a viable method to export surplus nutrients, thus avoiding overapplication of nitrogen which occurs during the conventional practice of forage crop flood irrigation.
Michigan State University
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IN, MI
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2023
The project will produce technology that improves irrigation energy and water use efficiency and reduces eclectic motor in-rush current spikes, ultimately leading to a energy cost savings to the producer. By creating a solar-powered microinverter that is connected to the internet and incorporates soil moisture sensors and a decision support system to determine when irrigation should occur, individual systems for field scale systems will be realized.
Stephen F Austin State University
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TX
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2023
An Airburner Inc., CharBoss® portable biochar machine will be used to produce biochar from timber harvesting residue, which coupled with commercially-available biochar, will be used to potentially improve carbon sequestration, seedling survival, sapling growth, soil health characteristics (pH, bulk density, and water holding capacity) and forage production. A silvopasture demonstration area will be improved by amendments of biochar and expanded to implement silvopasture shelterbelts and forested riparian areas. The economic feasibility of CharBoss-created biochar, and commercially available biochar will be investigated. Additional factors such as forest fuel reduction, improvement in tree survival, improved forage production or carbon sequestration credits that potentially effect various scenarios associated with biochar benefits also will be considered. Major anticipated benefits of biochar are improvement in forage production, seedlings survival and growth and several soil characteristics such as carbon concentration, which can be economically quantified. Additionally, soil water holding capacity is expected to increase, which although difficult to quantify economically, could yield substantial future benefits in terms of improved forage production, tree growth and a myriad of other sustainability and ecosystem service benefits.
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII
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HI
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2023
Water is by far the major constraint to crop production for regions with high agricultural potential and value in Hawaii. Even areas with abundant rainfall experience a high seasonal variability that does not maintain adequate water for vegetable crops throughout the year. In this project, climate data from a dense network of weather stations in Hawaii will be transmitted to an innovative weather-based irrigation management technology, allowing farmers across Hawaii to take advantage of this technology. Intensive on-farm irrigation trials will be implemented at 14 collaborating farms. The results of the on-farm trials will be evaluated and presented to agricultural producers through field days and workshops to enhance the broad adoption of the developed irrigation management technology.
NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY INC
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IA, MN, WI
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2023
Audubon will customize and expand its successful 2017-CIG-supported Conservation Ranching program to beef and dairy producers to benefit grassland health, producers’ bottom lines, and grassland bird species currently in decline. This project will provide producers with enhanced financial and technical assistance for the swift uptake and deployment of these NRCS-prioritized conservation practices across 2,000 acres: 512 Pasture and Range Planting, 338 Prescribed Burning, 314 Brush Management, 382 Fence, and 516 Livestock Pipeline. Additional project elements include: (1) payment to producers for each year that Audubon’s regional priority bird species are identified on-site through avian monitoring; (2) a social evaluation study to probe what motivates and/or deters producers from joining this program to increase its uptake, and (3) soil analysis and modeling to determine the practices’ climate smart viability.
Koniag, Inc
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AR
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2023
develop the first silvopastoral subsistence management program for deer, elk, salmon & brown bears and pollinators in Alaska; development of the first adaptive management Silvo-pastoral grazing system for subsistence species in AK, new cost-effective reforestation & habitat enhancement methods, and subsistence species population surveys that result in decision tools for harvests.
REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
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MN
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2023
The University of Minnesota will implement an integrated conservation strategy at a watershed scale in Minnesota to reduce tile-drainage nitrate-nitrogen losses from corn-soybean cropping. The agronomic, economic and environmental benefits will be evaluated in comparison with a paired watershed with farmers using their traditional management practices. The integrated strategy will include: an innovative and practical satellite remote sensing-based, in-season, site-specific precision nitrogen management technology to optimize corn nitrogen management; cover crops to take up residual nitrogen in the soil after harvest; and a denitrifying bed woodchip bioreactor to further remove nitrate-nitrogen from tile drainage effluent.
DAIRY GRAZING APPRENTICESHIP INC.
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MN, PA, VT, WI
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2023
This project will deploy PaddockTrac, an innovative and cost-effective precision Ag technology that accurately measures forage availability, on 20 small and mid-sized dairy farms in four states: Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Collaborating with dairy producers who currently implement continuous grazing, these on-farm trials aim to reduce the learning curve and stimulate the increased adoption of innovative practices by providing comprehensive technical assistance, data collection, and evaluation of the economic and conservation impacts of utilizing this technology to transition to managed grazing. Project partners are Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship, University of Missouri, University of Wisconsin, Farm Financial Institute, and Water and Land Solutions LLC.