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 1651 - 1660 of 1760 projects
Evaluation of a Grazing System for Maintaining Grassland Integrity and Improving Upland Bird Habitat
Missouri Department of Conservation
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MO
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2005
North American tallgrass prairie ecosystems have been reduced to less than 2% of their original area. Periodic disturbances are vital to native grassland management. Fire, an important process maintaining grasslands in the past is prescribed in many grasslands. However, fire alone is not consistent with historical disturbance regimes. Practices utilizing grazing and fire create a mosaic of Habitat types and may more closely resemble historical disturbance patterns. This project will demonstrate and evaluate vegetative structure and composition of tallgrass prairie flora and wildlife resulting from the use of patch burn grazing (PBG). Under this management scheme, one-third of each pasture will be burned annually. The intensity of grazing and resulting Habitat structure will shift among patches through time as different patches are burned and previously grazed patches recover. The predicted advantages of PBG are: 1) vegetation structure and composition will differ among patches within a pasture; 2) the Habitat mosaic created by the fire-grazing interaction will support more diverse plant and wildlife populations; and 3) PBG will prove economically competitive with traditional cool-season systems for raising beef cattle. PBG does not require internal cross fences or intensive supplemental feeding, but should yield competitive weight gains. PBG will be demonstrated at 5 Missouri and 2 Nebraska sites monitoring variables including floristic quality, vegetation structure, cattle activity patterns, economic benefits, and avian community responses.
Mississippi Coastal Plains RC and D, Inc.
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MS
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2005
The invasive Cogongrass is having deleterious impacts on longleaf pine ecosystems in coastal Mississippi. Longleaf pine, an ecosystem in decline through most of its range, is home to a number of federally listed endangered species, such as the gopher tortoise and red-cockaded woodpecker. Cogongrass can invade and overtake disturbed ecosystems, forming a dense mat of thatch and leaves that makes it nearly impossible for other plants to coexist. Large infestations of cogongrass can also alter the normal fire regime of a fire-driven ecosystem by causing more frequent and intense fires that injure or destroy native plants. This project is spearheaded by a unique partnership that will implement an innovative, comprehensive control plan for cogongrass involving over 5,000 EQIP eligible producers in six counties in coastal Mississippi.
University of Delaware
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DE
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2005
The Delmarva Peninsula is a primary agricultural region within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and is likely a major contributor to water quality degradation of both the Chesapeake Bay and the inland bays of Delaware to the east. Agriculture is an important industry on the peninsula, and irrigated agriculture is a major user of its water resources. However, competition with and pressure from other land uses and interests is pressuring irrigated agriculture to manage water resources more efficiently in terms of both quantity and environmental impact. Scientific irrigation scheduling (SIS) can help producers improve irrigation management by systematically integrating local factors into a water management system that forecasts irrigation needs for a specific field. Research on SIS began more than 50 years ago, but despite its documented benefits, it has not been widely adopted by producers. Surveys indicate that SIS has had a low adoption rate because producers are hesitant to adopt new practices if they are not easy to implement and understand. This project will encourage widespread adoption of SIS by integrating SIS technology into the irrigation system making information accessible where the decisions are made, right at the irrigation control point. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate and evaluate such a system, and to encourage its widespread adoption among agricultural producers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Brian Brake
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PA
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2005
The deleterious impacts of nutrient and sediment runoff on the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay are well documented. Traditional row crop production practices may result in significant amounts of nutrient runoff and soil erosion from farm fields. Many dairy producers, however, depend on the high Energy content and cost-effectiveness of corn silage in their dairy feed to keep their business profitable. A potential solution to this dilemma is the use of an alternative dairy forage, cup plant. Cup plant has a number of characteristics that make it an attractive alternative to corn silage. High seeding rates and low insect and disease pressure reduce pesticide and herbicide use. Plant densities help reduce soil erosion. Nutrient applications can be timed properly with plant uptake. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate and encourage the widespread adoption of alternative dairy forages on farms in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff
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AR
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2005
Level basin technology has the potential to reduce on-farm water uses for irrigation purposes by as much as 30%. This technology has been implemented in certain regions across the nation, especially in the arid southwest, to produce many crops. Level basin technology has been utilized in the rice production areas of eastern Arkansas for more than 40 years. The utilization of this technology is growing in acceptance in Louisiana, primarily for the production of rice, and in Missouri, which has less rainfall. Level basin technology has not been widely accepted in the East by farmers for the production of other crops, primarily soybeans, because of drainage concerns. Farmers are concerned that level basins will not permit adequate drainage for crops such as soybeans, cotton, and milo. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate and encourage the widespread adoption of level basin irrigation systems for soybean production. We believe that, using level basin technology, producers in humid regions can achieve high yield soybean production while utilizing approximately 30% less water with a resulting reduction in Energy savings through reduced pumping costs.
Food Alliance
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OR
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2005
Food Alliance is a national nonprofit organization that creates market incentives for adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. The Food Alliance certification and eco-labeling program is based on standards for socially and environmentally responsible agricultural practices. Farms and ranches that meet Food Alliance standards, as determined by third party inspections, are granted the right to use our eco-label (the second leading agricultural eco-label in the U.S. after “organic”) to distinguish their products in the marketplace. The Food Alliance program is unique in that it is the only sustainable agriculture label that has specific criteria for conservation of soil, water, range and wildlife Habitat. Growing market demand for certified products is a strong complement to federal incentives such as those provided by NRCS. The purpose of this project is to enroll over 130 producers in five states in Food Alliance’s innovative eco-labeling program. An additional 30,000 producers will be engaged through a comprehensive outreach effort.
Clemson University
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SC
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2005
Cotton is the most important agronomic crop in the southern U.S. with an estimated production value of $6 billion. The U.S. cotton industry lost an estimated $300 million to nematodes in 2003, and yield losses in individual fields may reach 50 percent. To combat these losses, producers often apply nematicides at a uniform rate across an entire field or farm. Nematodes are not, however, uniformly distributed within fields and applying a nematicide at one rate over an entire field can be both costly and environmentally damaging. Site-specific nematode placement (SNP) is an innovative technology that can minimize the effect of production practices on the environment while optimizing farm profits. This technology matches field variability of nematode distribution with an appropriate variable-rate nematicide application, differentially applying chemical to match the needs of individual management zones within a field. SNP technology can lead to substantial reduction in chemical use and their adverse impact on ground and surface water quality while increasing yields by applying nematicides only where damaging levels of nematodes occur. The purpose of this project is to engage producers in the demonstration and evaluation of SNP on suitable farms in South Carolina and Arkansas.
University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff
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AR
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2005
Drip irrigation systems have proven to be an effective means of meeting crop water needs in a highly efficient manner. These irrigation systems are commonly technically advanced and expensive, and in many instances require an investment in both capital and operational skill that is beyond many of our small scale, limited resource farmers. Technical and informational assistance is commonly directed toward these larger, more complex systems with less attention paid to systems that work for small operators. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate the installation and implementation of innovative irrigation systems that, while based on larger, complex drip irrigation systems, have a focused view toward implementation of features and components that can be utilized by small, limited resource producers.
Agren, Inc.
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IA
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2005
Exploration of the use of both private and public lands in the Loess Hills Region of Iowa for grazing to benefit grass-short producers and improve vegtative diversity.
Belknap County Conservation District
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NH
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2005
Demonstrated the use of solar water pumping at two highly visible applications