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 1611 - 1620 of 1760 projects
Classic Farms, LLC
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SD
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2005
A number of different anaerobic digester technologies are currently in use on farms in the United States. Despite a growing interest in the use of digesters for manure handling, however, there are no on-farm anaerobic digester systems in operation in South Dakota. Further, there are currently no “fixed film” digester systems operating on working farms in the United States. Fixed film digesters are uniquely different from the plug-flow, covered lagoon, and complete mix digester systems that are more commonly installed on farms. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate and evaluate the use of an innovative “fixed film” anaerobic digester that provides economic and environmental benefits, improves manure management, provides a pathogen-free, high quality end product, and reduces odors.
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection
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WI
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2005
In 2003, the State of Wisconsin adopted the Livestock Siting Law, enacted to facilitate the siting of new and expanding livestock facilities in Wisconsin. Wisconsin has developed an initial odor standard as part of the administrative rule developed to implement the siting law. Through public hearings held on the proposed rule, concerns have been raised about the odor standards. In particular, questions have been raised about the relationship between odor and livestock-generated ambient air concentrations, especially for dairy operations. These are significant issues in Wisconsin, particularly where land use is changing and residential development encroaches on agricultural operations. There are currently about 15,250 dairy operations in Wisconsin and over 1.2 million dairy cows. The livestock industry accounts for a majority of Wisconsins $51.5 billion agricultural economy. It is critical to Wisconsin’s dairy and livestock industry that producers implement best management practices to reduce odor, ambient air concentrations, and overall environmental impacts. This project will attempt to make the connection between agricultural ambient air concentrations and odor and evaluate various best management practices installed on dairy and other livestock operations. It will field test the odor standards developed as part of the administrative rule to implement Wisconsins Livestock Siting Law, and evaluate changes between pre- and post-installation levels of ambient air concentrations and odors.
IZON, Inc
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AR
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2005
While restrictions on agricultural irrigation have begun to proliferate nationally, irrigated lands in the Lower Mississippi River Valley (LMRV) are increasing at the rate of 189,000 acres per year. This increased use of groundwater is steadily depleting the aquifers underlying this region. Addressing groundwater depletion in the LMRV and other similarly challenged areas around the country requires both increased use of surface waters (where possible) and increased irrigation efficiency. Remote monitoring and control of irrigation can remove the labor and time constraints often associated with decreasing water use, water runoff, and fuel use. The patent-pending Izon monitoring/control system mimics verification of roaming cell phones to send information to and from water sensors, pumps and producer’s mobile devices. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate and encourage the widespread adoption of the Izon monitoring/control system to document benefits and increase awareness among producers.
World Wildlife Fund
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DC
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2005
Florida’s Lake Okeechobee, at the heart of the Everglades system, suffers from excessive phosphorous (P) loads and unnatural lake levels due in part to rapid runoff from its surrounding watershed. Agriculture is the dominant land use and a significant source of P in the watershed. Ranchers in this region are under regulatory requirements to reduce P loading, although they are not required to aggressively manage water to retain P. New approaches to managing runoff from this large area can help improve water quality and mediate water level changes in Lake Okeechobee. The purpose of this program is to design, establish, and evaluate a market-based program on ranches in the Lake Okeechobee watershed to reduce P loads, improve wildlife Habitat, and sequester carbon. Results of the pilot will be used to design a scalable version of the program that could be used on a broader scale.
Iowa Cattlemen's Association
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IA
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2005
Federal and state agencies continue to be concerned with potential risks to water bodies from cattle feedlot runoff. EPA’s revised CAFO regulations allow the use of alternative performance standards to control discharge from feedlots over 1,000 head. EPA has established criteria stating that any alternative must be capable of providing equivalent performance to that achieved by a properly designed and operated 25-year, 24-hour discharge control system. Research has shown that if properly constructed and managed, these alternative treatment technologies can achieve functional equivalency to total containment systems at less cost to the producer. This project will expand on a pilot effort to design and evaluate the effectiveness of vegetative non-basin alternative feedlot technologies in six Midwestern states.
University of Rhode Island
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RI
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2005
Establishing community-based markets for wildlife Habitat protection and other ecological services is a promising innovation, particularly at the urban-rural fringe where residents in or near rural communities value the quality of life provided by sustaining a farmed landscape that supports wildlife. Non-farm residents are also often willing to pay to sustain the rural character of their communities. This purpose of this project is to develop a market in which community residents pay farmers to adopt farming practices that enhance wildlife Habitat services from fields currently in production. Specifically, this project will create a market around grassland nesting birds, targeting bobolinks and hay production on Conanicut Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. This coastal landscape is threatened by increasing residential and tourism development. Bobolink nesting Habitat is endangered by hayfield cutting. The project will develop a new product that farmers can sell from hayfields to consumers willing to pay to improve nesting success of birds.
The Minnesota Project
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MN
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2005
Despite the extent of nonpoint source pollution reduction efforts on agricultural lands, many challenges remain to achieve the desired outcomes of improved water quality of our nation’s waters. Reducing nonpoint source pollution has traditionally relied on structural practices, but efforts are increasingly focusing on cultural practices and management behaviors. One limitation on the success of nonpoint reductions has been the shortage of trained technical staff to carry out the producer outreach, conservation planning, and practice design and implementation required to invest the available resources. The purpose of this project is to test an innovative, market-based approach of incorporating conservation planning into producers’ cooperative agribusiness activities, including helping staff become certified Technical Service Providers. We believe this new approach will accelerate producer adoption of conservation practices to reduce water pollution.
Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association
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MA
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2005
Successful cultivation of cranberries requires cool temperatures, sandy soils, and an abundant supply of fresh water. The water is used to hydrate the cranberry vines and to protect the buds and berries against frost. Water is moved into bogs through sprinkler systems or flooding practices. Currently, irrigation of cranberry bogs must be done manually, which can result in excessive or insufficient irrigation, reducing yield. The purpose of this project is to implement and evaluate an automated, internet-based system to increase irrigation efficiency and improve yields.
Golden Triangle RC&D Council
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GA
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2005
Georgia leads the nation in broiler production with 1.234 billion birds per year, and produces approximately 1.54 million tons of poultry broiler litter annually. Poultry litter is commonly stored on the ground, uncovered and often on the edge of wetlands and sinkholes, where leaching of nitrates may occur, until it is spread on crop or pasture lands. Give the litter concentration in the Southwest region of Georgia, there is high potential for nitrates from improperly stored and land applied poultry litter to leach into the underlying aquifer. The soils in this region are generally saturated with phosphorous and other nutrients. There is a considerable need to consolidate management of broiler litter in order to maximize environmental benefits, land availability, and economics. By establishing a community or cooperative facility at which multiple local farms consolidate their manure handling into the production and sale of a marketable value-added product, many of the environmental and economic challenges that each producer encounters individually can be overcome by working collaboratively. The purpose of this project is to engage 22 producers to cooperate in the development and use of a regional litter composting facility that would be the first of its kind in Georgia and in the Southeastern U.S.
Yuma Conservation District
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CO
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2005
Agriculture in the Republican River Basin is dependent on water pumped from the Ogallala Aquifer. With withdrawals exceeding recharge, however, groundwater levels in the region have been in decline. The Republican River Compact Settlement Agreement of 2002 has further compromised water resources in the region, targeting 4,000 wells in Colorado for potential shutoff. This agreement comes on the heels of a multi-year drought, forcing producers and communities in the region to recognize that unless cropping systems are shifted away from high water-use crops, a way of life is destined to come to an end. The situation requires an immediate and large-scale shift on multiple fronts, including strategies that enable producers to successfully innovate. The purpose of this project is to engage producers in an innovative, comprehensive, regional strategy to reduce water consumption by moving operations from high water-use crops to lower water-use crops.