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 731 - 740 of 1802 projects
Purdue University
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IN
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2013
The purpose of this project is demonstrate to producers how innovative cropping systems (no‐till systems which include Cover Crops in rotation) used on Midwest glacial till soils can increase resiliency to drought via improved soil health as a result of carbon retention. This effort will provide a better understanding of changes in health of soil using early predictions based on changes to the soil biology as impacted by selection of plant materials, planting strategy, and soil management for Cover Crops and can be utilized within a producer’s management plan to ultimately make positive changes in farm soil health. An approach will be developed for the prediction of soil health changes following the implementation of cover crop programs (an innovative approach to increase water retention and reduce nutrient loads to water and air.) Using producer field sites, the effects of Cover Crops on the availability of soil water will be documented through a two‐year planting cycle. Changes in water holding capacity as a function of soil properties, cover crop management practices, soil biology and biochemistry will be demonstrated and quantified. Changes in soil biology and physical qualities will be used as early predictors of the critical changes in the systems and their importance demonstrated to producers. This project will provide fundamental knowledge that will be turned into educational programs leading to adaptive management practices that fully utilize combinations of plant types and management systems to achieve resource protection and soil revitalization.
The University of Tennessee
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TN
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2013
In the Southeastern United States, irrigated agriculture has grown by 60% or 4.2 million acres over the last 20 years due to droughts and the need for row crop producers to insure high yield against the high cost of production. The rapid growth of irrigation in conjunction with population growth in the southeast has led to water conflicts during drought periods. Deficit irrigation of row crops is an effective way to mitigate drought in humid regions by applying less water to the majority of irrigated acres in the Southeastern US. The purpose of this project is to promote deficit irrigation for humid regions as a means to apply less water for drought mitigation, to optimize yield by better utilization of rainfall, and to improve the sustainability of row crop production. Deficit irrigation in humid regions means not supplying the crop with all the water it could use and not keeping the soil-water profile at field capacity, a condition known as full irrigation. Deficit irrigation makes use of rainfall while full irrigation does not. This is because in a full irrigation scenario, there is no or little storage capacity remaining in the soil and additional rainfall could saturate the soil, leach fertilizer, and/or run-off the soil surface. Five tasks will be undertaken to advance this goal: (1) finalize the strategy for deficit irrigation of cotton in variable water holding capacity soils; (2) start a deficit irrigation demonstration for soybeans similar to the cotton irrigation demonstration that tests three start times and three irrigation rates; (3) work with producers to implement deficit irrigation strategies; (4) calculate and compare indicators of environmental sustainability from data collected at the research station and on-farm sites; (5) extend project results via fact-sheets, websites, producer workshops/regional meetings, field days and on-farm demonstration sites.
University of Florida Board of Trustees
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FL
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2013
The focus of this project is on water conservation due to current and predicted water scarcity and drought in the Southeastern United States through better irrigation practices. This project will address adaptation to drought through improved irrigation water use efficiency by incorporating more spatially accurate rainfall data, an irrigation deficit index, and primed acclimation strategies into already developed smartphone/tablet SmartIrrigation apps for citrus, cotton, strawberry, and turfgrass production. The improved Smartirrigation apps, developed in coordination with the Southeast Climate Consortium, will be demonstrated by engaging producers and extension agents to use and evaluate them. The project will result in dissemination and greater adoption of easy to use, reliable, and easily accessible tools by producers in a region of the country where drought has been a persistent problem for the past decade resulting in a need for more efficient use of water resources. This will allow producers to make smarter, more sustainable decisions on using limited water supplies and potentially conserving water.
Texas AgriLife Research
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TX
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2013
Periods of drought such as the historic drought of 2012 are common in Texas, where irrigated agriculture consumes more than 90% of the total water used. It is imperative to embrace technologies that optimize irrigation and conserve agricultural water such as irrigation guidelines based on historical weather station data that incorporate crop evapotranspiration for planning irrigation. The main purpose of this project is to develop agronomic and irrigation strategies to manage drought conditions in irrigated agriculture and grazed land. The specific objectives are (1) to develop irrigation guidelines for sugarcane, citrus, corn, cotton and corn, onions and watermelons, and pastures in the Lower Rio Grande Valley for full irrigation and limited water supplies and determine irrigation priorities for these crops according to profitability and water use efficiency; (2) develop an internet based computer program to adapt irrigation management according to drought conditions using the weather station network; (3) establish five field demonstrations on EQIP eligible producer farms to demonstrate water scheduling strategies using remote soil water sensors and internet based data and quantify water use, irrigation with poly-pipe, water application efficiency and net return per unit of water applied; and (4) organize field days, workshops and extension factsheets (English and Spanish) to divulge these technologies.
Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District
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GA
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2013
With GPS-guided variable rate irrigation systems that are able to adapt application rates to field conditions in real-time, and new advanced irrigation scheduling tools that are cost-effective and built for both conservation and crop performance, irrigation management on the modern farm is set to make a quantum leap forward in water use efficiency. The next step in the evolution of on-farm irrigation water management is to reduce the cost of advanced irrigation scheduling from thousands of dollars to hundreds of dollars per site to make the approach accessible to all producers. The goals of the project are to develop and deploy a new low-cost tool, help up to 50 agricultural producers optimize irrigation scheduling, and build a conservation model for the future of agricultural water use in the United States.
Monadnock Conservancy
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NH
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2013
Planting Potentially Blight Resistant American Chestnuts in an Actively Managed Forest to Increase Diversity, Compete with American Beech, and Provide Hard Mast for Wildlife on Conservation Land
McKinley Soil and Water Conservation District
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NM
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2013
Purchase no-till drill and administer no-till drill loan/lease program.
LSU AgCenter
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LA
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2013
Demonstrate the potential for residual soil nitrogen recovery during the winter season using high nitrogen input crops such as tillage radish and annual ryegrass and for improvement of soil parameters in pastures.
Marin RCD
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CA
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2013
The Marin Carbon Project (MCP) Sequestering Carbon in California Soils (Seq- C Soils) proposal engages agricultural producers as ecosystem stewards to provide on-farm ecological benefits and mitigate global climate change. MCP’s first four years of research demonstrated that agricultural land management practices can measurably increase rates of carbon sequestration, resulting in enhanced soil quality and soil water holding capacity and increased soil carbon and forage production (Ryals and Silver 2012). We propose to follow up on our research and planning efforts by completing Carbon Farm Action Plans for three (3) Marin County farms using NRCS resource assessment tools and criteria augmented with carbon sequestration capacity estimates derived from COMET-FARM, Marin Carbon Project research data (including the Century Model as calibrated for Marin soils), and other tools and data sources as appropriate.
Lincoln University
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MO
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2013
Lincoln University proposes to evaluate the technology used for over-seeding cover crops into standing corn. We will do this by modifying a high clearance chemical sprayer to seed cover crops. Several seeding mechanisms will be used to evaluate the one or more seeder methods best suited for over-seeding cover crops into standing corn and soybeans. Aerial seeding may not always be available when moisture conditions are optimal. Having a ground driven seeding capability allows producers to get into their fields and sow the cover crops at or near optimal weather/moisture conditions for seed germination.