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 1421 - 1430 of 1760 projects
Maryland Department of Agriculture
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MD
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2007
The purpose of this award is for the grantee to demonstrate an effective strategy for overcoming barriers for the adoption of Best Management Practices on Equine operations to reduce excess nutrient loads.This project will target accelerated agricultural BMP implementation to horse operations addressing the Maryland Tributary Strategy plans and TMDL watersheds of the Piedmont, Appalachian Highlands, and Coastal Plain areas of the western shore of Maryland. The project will demonstrate an effective strategy for overcoming the barrier to adoption of the best management practices on equine operations to reduce excess nutrient loads.
Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin
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WI
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2007
The purpose of this award is for the grantee to develop and implement an Energy*A*Syst farm Energy efficiency self-assessment tool to be available through the Farm*A*Syst program network.Currently, EQIP and CSP call for producers to analyze and enact Energy efficiency planning. Resources for producers have been limited even with great interest in the issue. The current project (06/07) is developing a comprehensive farm Energy self-assessment tool and online resource center, Energy*A*Syst, for agricultural producers in the upper Midwest to conduct a customized Energy analysis. Our project extension request has several components:
1) Expand the geographical scope of these Energy tools to agricultural operations in the entire U.S.
2) We propose to tailor our on-line tool to assist agricultural producers assess opportunities for participation in the Section 9006 grants available through the 2002 Farm Bill authorizing funding to support renewable Energy and Energy efficiency.
3) In addition to the specific objectives of NRCS, there is intense interest at all levels on developing biofuels from agricultural production systems to offset oil imports.
We propose to expand this tool and integrate it with other NRCS developed tools so that it can be used to estimate the Energy intensity of crop production (both direct oil, gas and electric as well as embodied Energy in fertilizers, machinery, etc.) in all regions of the U.S. These tools will be useful in specific regional analysis of the Energy input/output ratios of biofuels. Maximum use will be made of existing estimators such as the USDA tillage tool for calculating gas and diesel fuel requirements for field operations.
1) Expand the geographical scope of these Energy tools to agricultural operations in the entire U.S.
2) We propose to tailor our on-line tool to assist agricultural producers assess opportunities for participation in the Section 9006 grants available through the 2002 Farm Bill authorizing funding to support renewable Energy and Energy efficiency.
3) In addition to the specific objectives of NRCS, there is intense interest at all levels on developing biofuels from agricultural production systems to offset oil imports.
We propose to expand this tool and integrate it with other NRCS developed tools so that it can be used to estimate the Energy intensity of crop production (both direct oil, gas and electric as well as embodied Energy in fertilizers, machinery, etc.) in all regions of the U.S. These tools will be useful in specific regional analysis of the Energy input/output ratios of biofuels. Maximum use will be made of existing estimators such as the USDA tillage tool for calculating gas and diesel fuel requirements for field operations.
Heifer Project International, Inc
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AR
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2007
This project will train limited resource farmers to be trainers for their communities, providing training and support on prescribed grazing, resource management, livestock health, and other topics. Through hands-on, practical trainings conducted at Heifer Ranch, illustrated manuals, and other training tools, and technical support from NRCS, Heifer, and additional professionals, the project will empower limited resource farmers in 5 States with the skills and tools needed to develop economically stable and environmentally sound livestock-based farming systems.
Hedgeapple Biotech
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IL
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2007
The purpose of this award is for the grantee to demonstrate the integrated use of NRCS technologies for bioEnergy production, to carbon sequestration and value added products with Osage orange and the primary crop.Reducing dependence on Energy from non-renewable and hostile sources and controlling greenhouse gas emissions are national priorities. Likewise, the loss of Habitat for wildlife, reductions in perennial crops, and continued uncertainty about key farm programs like CRP need addressing. BioEnergy production potential is also critically limited by water resources that need to be managed more wisely starting with improved watershed management. As the United States frees itself from oil and nonrenewable dependency the opportunity to radically improve the rural economy presents itself. That opportunity is dependent on the development of species offering significant Value Added Product and carbon sequestration while providing continued soil water conservation. There is an excellent plant species and a production system to match that can be used to address the above issues Maclura pomifera (Osage orange), although in large part forgotten, has been extensively researched previously and shown to have these capabilities. In fact project, we will evaluate multiple NRCS practices in reference to bioEnergy, bioproducts, and carbon sequestration issues while providing ecological services including wildlife Habitat. A special focus will be on riparian management thanks to our excellent consultants and the nature of the demonstration farm. In addition, we will facilitate the beginning of a rural cooperative with development of biorefinery capability to take advantage of the Significant Value added products inherent in this species. As the political landscape in reference to global warming changes and provisions for realistic payments for carbon sequestration are made, we propose this model as a realistic replacement for the system beyond the initial establishment period.
Confederate Salish and Kootenai Tribes
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MT
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2007
The purpose of this award is for the grantee to develop promising conservation technologies, practices, systems and procedures that will aid in the identification, mapping and demonstration of effective Reed canary grass control and native plant re-establishment.Conservation of wealth and riparian Habitat on the Flathead Indian Restoration (FIR) of western Montana is complicated by ‘checkerboard’ land ownership. Lands containing wetland and riparian lands are owned, managed, or regulated by numerous tribal, Federal, State, or local government, or private stockholders. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSK) and other agency stakeholders often share common conservation goals and objectives that can not be effectively achieved independently. The resources conservation and management community on the Reservation is in need of accurate, up-to-date mapping of wetland and riparian resources for effective planning and coordination. In addition to land-use and development pressures, invasion and spread of invasive aquatic species pose a major threat to the health of aquatic ecosystems on grazing and forest lands within the Reservation. This project will improve conservation of wetland and riparian Habitat through:
1) enhanced National Wetland Inventory (NWI) and riparian mapping;
2) identification and mapping of aquatic weed infestations from 1m CIR and NAIP imagery;
3) implementation of demonstration projects for RCG control in representative wetland and riparian areas, and
4) development of technical guidance, and improved planning and management tools.
1) enhanced National Wetland Inventory (NWI) and riparian mapping;
2) identification and mapping of aquatic weed infestations from 1m CIR and NAIP imagery;
3) implementation of demonstration projects for RCG control in representative wetland and riparian areas, and
4) development of technical guidance, and improved planning and management tools.
Environmental Credit Group
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PA
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2007
ECC seeks to expand the development and implementation of an innovative, market-based carbon credit program to cover manure lagoons, reduce methane emissions, enhance air quality, and provide additional farm income to hog farms in North Carolina and dairies in New York. Leveraging CIG funds, the project will provide lagoon covers and carbon credit services including ongoing monitoring, documentation, verification, and registration for 8-10 hog farms in North Carolina and 6-8 dairies in New York. The program will link agriculture producers that have anaerobic manure treatment lagoons with the Chicago Climate Exchange, an active and highly successful voluntary U.S. framework fro quantifying, verifying, registering, and trading greenhouse gas emission reductions. Farmers will receive reliable carbon credit revenues for the adoption of well-proven technologies. The proposed project will provide on-the-ground implementation, demonstration, evaluation, and refinement of a market-based incentive program with multiple production-related and environmental benefits. The will reduce greenhouse gas emission from these by 40,000 to 60,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalents per year and will substantially reduce other emissions including volatile organic compounds, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and particulate matter precursors. The project will also improve lagoon operation and liquid storage capacity, and will demonstrate how farmers and technology providers can obtain added revenue through carbon credit payments which, depending on future carbon prices, may range from $160,000 to over $250,000 per year for the participating farms combined.
AP-GARM
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VT
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2007
The project will accelerate the production of “high benefit” biofuels. “High benefit” biofuels have high net Energy production values, large carbon emissions reductions, sustainable methods of feedstock production, and drive substantial rural economic (farm sector) income, investment, and jobs multipliers. This project will use the voluntary buyer market for environmental credits, in an agricultural-sector specific manner, to leverage biofuel production economics, and accelerate the shift from fossil fuels to biofuels. AgRefresh, the applicant, is already employing a parallel strategy to leverage and accelerate farm methane projects through the creation and voluntary market sale of composite environmental credits called Pure Farm Energy™ Shares. Now, AgRefresh proposes to duplicate this business model within the emerging biofuels sector. AgRefresh, via the BAP Project, will monetize the positive benefits of farm-based Energy systems in order to maximize the cash flow to farm-owned feedstock and liquid biofuels production projects. The creative use of market-based environmental credits allows private consumer demand to leverage and accelerate feedstock production volumes and liquid biofuel production volumes. This private sector, market-based approach to biofuels is fully complementary to existing Federal and State initiatives. The project has three components. Component one is the development of three environmentally rigorous, peer-reviewed standards. These standards will cover the measurement of impacts, the project specific accounting rules, and the establishment of a registry. The second component is the actual implementation of the project by AgRefresh, including the tracking of quantified results such as: tunes of carbon emissions reductions, biofuel Energy volumes, and incomes, investment, and jobs impacts for producers and the associated rural sectors. Project standards and concepts will be shared via the advocacy and education component, the final component.
Big Island Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc.
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HI
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2007
Protection of Soil and Water Resources, enhanced overall production from mixed-cropping, and expanded wildlife habitat and biodiversity.
Fingerlakes RC & D Council
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NY
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2007
To demonstrate the use of solar watering systems in conjunction with the implementation of prescribed grazing systems on livestock farms.
Government of Guam, Department of Agriculture Forestry & Soil Resources Division
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GU
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2007
Acacia species are widely naturalized in the Marianas islands and widely planted with the intent to stabilize eroding soil surfaces, provide nitrogen-rich organic material to the soils, and replace flammable grasses. The long-term plan for most Acacia plantations is to under plant them with native woody species. However, there is little information and very limited practice of thinning the Acacia overstory to optimize conditions for under planted native species. Thinning and/or removal of “nurse crop” tree species is a common silvoculture practice worldwide and in traditional Micronesian agroforestry, but actual thinning practices are most effective if calibrated to the local environment, the nurse crop species, and the species under planted.