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 11 - 20 of 24 projects
LSU Agricultural Center
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LA
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2016
The Iberia, Vermilion, St. Mary, and St. Martin Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the American Sugarcane League, and the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center will join efforts to accomplish the objectives of this project. The impact of using annual ryegrass (for grazing or cover crop) on sugarcane production will be evaluated in 4 collaborative farms. Data collection and outreach activities will be conducted to disseminate the results.
LSU Agricultural Center
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LA
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2015
This project primarily addresses the topic of delaying corn planting in the spring to maximize biomass and nitrogen fixation of preceding cover crop. On-farm demonstrations will be utilized to transfer this technology.
LSU Agricultural Center
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LA
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2015
Demonstrate and quantify the benefits of integrating legume and grass forage systems to minimize inorganic N fertilizer use, improve soil health, animal performance, and minimize forage systems impact on water and air quality in Louisiana.
LSU Agricultural Center
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LA
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2015
In Louisiana, agricultural acres under irrigation has increased over the years. Irrigation is necessary because of the erratic distribution of rainfall and prolonged dry spells at critical crop growth stages. According to the Farm Service Agency, about 40% of the row crops were under irrigation in 2016. Among the different types of irrigation, furrow irrigation (FI) constitutes significant portion of irrigated agriculture in Louisiana. Although FI with the use of polypipe is very inexpensive compared with other types of irrigation, such as center pivot or linear moving or drip irrigation systems, efficiency is as low as 40%. Based on the soil texture and slope of the field, the efficiency could be little higher or lower. Deep percolation, especially in light textured soils, and edge of field runoff are the major pathways of water loss in addition to surface evaporation. Uneven wetting of the field (excessive water at the beginning of the row and a deficit of water at the end of the row) can cause poor crop yields. In addition to FI’s poor efficiency, irrigating crops based on soil touch and feel or visual observation methods lead to improper timing of irrigation.
Overall, poor irrigation efficiency of FI not only contributes to less than optimum crop yields and increased cost of cultivation, but also lead to loss of nutrients, sediment and soil organic matter, which ultimately lead to the decreased soil fertility. Clearly, there is an opportunity to improve the efficiency of FI through the implementation of existing knowledge.
An integrated irrigation management (IIM) approach was developed to improve FI’s efficiency that can also conserve nutrients and sediment loss. The proposed IIM approach uses surge irrigation, TDR soil moisture sensors, PHAUCET for polypipe hole selection, and consideration of crop growth stage to improve overall water use efficiency.
Overall, poor irrigation efficiency of FI not only contributes to less than optimum crop yields and increased cost of cultivation, but also lead to loss of nutrients, sediment and soil organic matter, which ultimately lead to the decreased soil fertility. Clearly, there is an opportunity to improve the efficiency of FI through the implementation of existing knowledge.
An integrated irrigation management (IIM) approach was developed to improve FI’s efficiency that can also conserve nutrients and sediment loss. The proposed IIM approach uses surge irrigation, TDR soil moisture sensors, PHAUCET for polypipe hole selection, and consideration of crop growth stage to improve overall water use efficiency.
LSU Agricultural Center
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LA
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2014
Removal of sugarcane residue off the rows using modified sweeper technology and in-season nitrogen recommendation using remote sensing technology.
The Nature Conservancy
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LA
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2014
Development of a water quality hot spot targeting tool to aid in the selection of 12 digit sub-watersheds in Louisiana for mitigation strategies. The main functional requirement of the application would be to identify “hot spots” where there are relatively high concentrDevations of selected water quality traits that represent potential problem areas. Supplemental data such as land cover and soils data would also be included to elucidate contributing factors to the “hot spot”. The “hot spot” analysis would be accomplished using readily available existing sample data from EPA and LDEQ. These sample data would be interpolated within 8 digit sub-basins (HUC 8) to create heat maps. This would allow users to evaluate 12 digit sub-watersheds based on relative concentrations of water quality traits within the HUC 8 and the supplemental data.
Louisiana State University Agriculture Center
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LA
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2014
Ecology concepts indicate that pastures of high species diversity can be more functional and potentially more productive than those of monocultures or simple two-species mixtures. Short term experiments have typically not confirmed superior forage or grazing livestock production of such complex mixtures. This project will introduce the concept of such multiple-species pasture mixtures for use in the southeastern U.S. and demonstrate realistic short-term beneficial effects. A complex pasture mixture of cool-season species on a commercial beef cattle operation will be established by over-seeding warm-season perennial grass pasture in October. Establishment and production of this mixed stand will be monitored with pasture areas which naturally develop differing stand composition used as reference areas to compare effects of species complexity on measures of soil health. Cumulative effects of diverse species mixtures in repeated years on subsequent warm-season grass productivity and soil characteristics will be assessed. Environmental effects anticipated from diverse pasture species, compared to nitrogen-fertilized grass monocultures, include biological nitrogen fixation, enhanced sub-soil nutrient uptake, increased nutrient uptake efficiency, reduced fertilizer requirements, reduced weed pressure, enhanced pollinator Habitat, increased soil microbial biomass and diversity and increased soil organic matter providing carbon sequestration.
LSU AgCenter
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LA
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2013
Measure water quality of runoff from around poultry houses, demonstrate the effectiveness of in-house pasteurization, and train LSU AgCenter agents and NRCSs employees on the importance of these practices
LSU AgCenter
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LA
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2013
Demonstrate the effectiveness of planting wheat in 'spin' ditches to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff
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.