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 1631 - 1640 of 1760 projects
Flint River SWCD
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GA
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2005
The lower portion of the Flint River Basin serves as one of the most agriculturally intensive areas in the state of Georgia. Home to more than 5,000 center pivot irrigation systems irrigating approximately 650,000 acres, the Flint River Basin’s ground and surface water resources are challenged to sustain economic yield without sacrificing the biodiversity of the Flint River and its tributaries. Changing weather patterns, droughts, and low market prices continually challenge farmers to produce high yields with less money. Farmers cannot afford to risk economic stability by using less water unless they have some credible means to find that they already are applying sufficient water. Faced with this irrigation scheduling battle, farmers in the Flint River Basin are in dire need of a system that takes the guesswork out of irrigation scheduling, and provides the validation needed to insure others that the water resources of the basin are being used in an efficient and effective manner. The purpose of this project is to move real time soil moisture monitoring into the hands of the farmer to be used for irrigation scheduling. Less than 5% of farmers in Georgia are currently using some form of soil moisture monitoring, though it is thought to be the principle way to determine the effectiveness of irrigation application. This project will set up a telemetry network to transmit soil moisture data from the field to the Internet via a wireless network. Farmers will have the ability to read irrigation scheduling reports, pivot location, and other crop management information from a handheld computer in the field.
National Center for Appropriate Technology
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MT
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2005
Cotton fields are generally sprayed with a diverse group of insecticides. Impacts on nontarget organisms, as well as soil, air, and water resources, can be significant. Pesticide expenses also represent a significant cost to cotton producers. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate and evaluate the efficacy of installing beneficial insect Habitat plantings in and adjacent to cotton fields. Results from initial testing indicate that beneficial plantings, not commonly used by producers, can reduce pesticide applications by over 60%.
Washington State University
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WA
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2005
According to the EPA’s Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) rule released in 2003, livestock and poultry operations defined as CAFOs are required to have a Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) by December 2006. For those that choose to develop a CNMP, which in most cases will satisfy the NMP requirement, there will be an immediate need for an understanding of the Feed Management element of the CNMP. Animal feed represents the largest import of nutrients onto farms, followed by commercial fertilizer. Although many NRCS employees are trained in developing most components of a CNMP, they often have little or no educational background in feed management. This project will develop, test, evaluate, and implement a National Feed Management Education Program and Assessment Tools. The project will help NRCS staff and agricultural professionals increase their understanding of feed management techniques and technologies in order to be able to adequately assist producers as they develop CNMPs to comply with the CAFO rule.
University of Wyoming
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WY
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2005
Wyoming is in the fifth year of a drought that has left most of the state in either an Extreme or Exceptional drought category. Reduction in surface water flows cause livestock to find more resilient water sources including rivers and streams. Damage to riparian areas and contamination of these water sources by livestock waste create significant environmental concerns. The purpose of this project is to install and evaluate the use of solar and wind powered sock water pumps in remote grazing areas of Wyoming. The common use of small diesel or propane engines to power remote electricity service lines creates noise and air pollution, and creates inefficiencies for a rancher’s grazing operation. Using solar or wind powered water pumps is a time-saving and environmentally beneficial solution in remote grazing areas. These technologies, however, have yet to gain widespread acceptance, due mainly to the newness of the technology and the initial cost of the pumping systems.
Texas Ag Experiment Station-Texas A&M
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TX
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2005
The Southern Plains, which stretch from northern Oklahoma through Texas into Mexico, represent an important component of the regional economy in the southern USA. Maintaining or restoring ecosystem health and resilience is a critical social imperative to ensure the future supply of the ecosystem services they supply, which are critical for the future well-being for human societies in the region. However, fire suppression, overgrazing, ineffective brush control, and periodic drought have led to continuing conversion of open grasslands and savannas to woodlands dominated by honey mesquite and juniper species. A key issue for cost-effectively restoring the health of the Southern Plains ecosystems is the reintroduction of periodic fires, including occasional hot summer burns. Despite evidence of the ecological benefits resulting from summer fires, their use is not endorsed by NRCS and others under common summertime environmental conditions. Reintroducing summer fires is also complicated by the fact that landscape-level ecological changes have interconnected environmental and human dimensions. The purpose of this project is to assess the feasibility of restoring rangeland health in the Southern Plains using periodic summer fires. The project will integrate ecological, economic, and social parameters in this assessment, which will result in recommendations on potential policy/practice changes to producers, NRCS, and other stakeholders
Missouri & Mississippi Divide RC&D, Inc.
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IA
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2005
Cornell University
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NY
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2005
Agricultural wastewater such as silage effluent, milkhouse wastewater, and other manure contaminated runoff is an environmental challenge for many livestock farms. A common approach to managing livestock production area wastewater in New York is to collect and distribute it for treatment in a vegetated filter area (VFA). Little is known, however, about the expected or actual reduction and fate of nutrients and other contaminants in wastewater treated by VFAs installed according to existing conservation practice standards. The purpose of this project is to characterize the environmental effectiveness and improve VFA methods for treating livestock production area wastewater. Hydrology information, water quality concerns, environmental engineering principles, and soil biochemical processes will be integrated to comprehensively evaluate VFA effectiveness, and the results used to improve the design and implementation procedures of the conservation practice standard for treating high concentration agricultural wastewater.
Pennsylvania State University
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PA
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2005
Land application of manure is one of the most important conservation issues facing livestock operators in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. A large body of research has revealed how application of manure to soil can enrich nitrogen in groundwater or phosphorous in surface runoff. Recent changes in criteria for air quality regulations have made ammonia volatization from livestock manure a priority issue. Manure can also impact emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. An ever-expanding suburban fringe has resulted in a growing number of odor complaints. These concerns highlight the need to understand environmental and agronomic trade-offs when developing conservation strategies. Practices that control one conservation concern can exacerbate another. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the environmental and agronomic effects of several manure application systems (e.g., pressurized injection, surface application followed by tillage incorporation) to identify systems that optimally address multiple priority environmental concerns.
Iowa Soybean Association
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IA
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2005
Nutrient enrichment in the Gulf of Mexico and nitrate contamination in drinking water and rural wells have focused attention and regulatory concern on losses of nitrogen from agricultural soils to tributary rivers. These water quality issues can be addressed through more efficient application of nitrogen, which can provide agricultural producers with both environmental and economic benefits. With the help of a 2004 Conservation Innovation Grants award, several hundred Iowa producers have used remote sensing with replicated strip trials and/or guided stalk nitrate sampling to evaluate their own nitrogen (N) needs and new management approaches. The majority have found they can maximize profit and reduce N losses to the environment by applying far less fertilizer and adopting different application strategies. The purpose of this project is to expand on this effort in the following ways: 1) include new watersheds and types of fields in the nutrient management demonstration, 2) develop and test a model coordinating system for information pooling, analysis and reporting, and 3) train 120 potential Technical Service Providers to deliver the enhanced nutrient management practices.
Conservation Resource Alliance
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MI
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2005
Northwest Michigan is home to a number of world-class coldwater rivers and vast forest and wetland resources. Because the region is undergoing such tremendous growth, fragmentation and loss of ecological Habitat are the topmost concerns of resource managers. The proposed project is a joint initiative of the Conservation Resource Alliance, a regional resource conservation and development council in northern lower Michigan, and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (one of 12 federally recognized tribes in Michigan). The primary project goal is to test and use the innovative “Wild Link” approach to deliver Farm Bill services to a broad base of customers. Secondary goals are to restore and protect critical ecological corridors on a regional scale in rapidly developing northwest Michigan watersheds and to establish a model for integrating tribal interests and participation into both Wild Link and the USDA’s Farm Bill programs.