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 151 - 160 of 1760 projects
American Farmland Trust
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MA
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2020
With crashing milk prices, rising land competition, climate change, & now the devastating impacts due to COVID-19, the future of agriculture in the northeast is in peril. To survive this &, future disasters, whether due to climate change or public health emergencies, agricultural industries across the spectrum must build resilience & improve longterm viability in part through the implementation of soil health management systems (SHMS). With improved soil health practices, Massachusetts farms can strengthen their financial standing, setting them up for greater stability & presence in our local food system. Leveraging data from American Farmland Trust’s (AFT) on-farm soil health demonstration (SHD) network, which includes four dairy & vegetable farms in Massachusetts, AFT will stimulate the adoption of cover crops & other soil health practices by women through the sharing of short-term soil, economic, & social changes that occur as the SHD farms transition to full SHMS. These examples will be shared & discussed with women farmers during three Soil Health Learning Circles, aimed at working with women landowners & women farmers including farmers of color, to improve access to resources & enable better stewardship & farmland protection. Following the Learning Circles, six in-depth profiles highlighting women farmers from across MA will be produced, capturing participants' stories of newly gained conservation knowledge or successful implementation of soil health practices. Additionally, in an effort to provide cover crop & no-till implementation education in a more technical & hands-on setting, we will also execute a soil-health demonstration field day highlighting on-farm soil health trials, & the use & operation of equipment such as a roller crimper, no-till seed drill, & a no-till vegetable transplanter.
Bowling Green State University
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OH
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2020
This project will explore the technical feasibility and commercial viability of using an innovative multi-species aquaponics system to convert nutrients in agricultural drainage systems into marketable products (e.g., tilapia, bait crayfish, and crops) while reducing nutrient discharge to waterways in the Western Lake Erie Basin.
Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association
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MA
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2020
Fruit quality has been identified as the most critical and urgent horticultural challenge facing the cranberry growers of Massachusetts. A major deterrent to fruit quality is cranberry fruit rot, a persistent challenge in north eastern cranberry cultivation from season to season, if left uncontrolled, crop losses in excess of 50% may result. Fruit rot, unlike the majority of plant diseases, is a disease complex associated with more than a dozen taxonomically diverse fungi.The University of Massachusetts at Amherst & the UMass Cranberry Station in Wareham will lead the scientific components of the project, deriving the study sites, monitoring, recording & correlating the information collected. The researchers will develop a correlation between weather, growing practices & fruit quality which will become the basis for understanding how to improve fruit quality. This research will be able to be easily understood & implemented by cranberry growers, helping them make better informed decisions. The result is expected to be an increase in fruit quality, more refined growing strategies & reduced chemical inputs, that they can use to better manage their crops.
Central State University
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OH
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2020
In this project, the team expects to apply the well-studied manure application practice in agriculture to hemp production, and evaluate and demonstrate the soil health and water quality benefits while maximizing crop yield.
Cornell University CCE Urban Soil Health
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NY
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2020
CCE seeks to investigate three management approaches for vegetable farmers with high organice matter soils: pH adjustment, cover cropping, and calibrating soil test results to account for bulk density. Location in NYC, Buffalo, and Penn Yan
Davidians Farm Market LLC
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MA
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2020
This CIG innovation trial integrates cover crops & reduced tillage into our conventional shaped-bed vegetable production in order to improve soil health, while reducing emissions and inputs. The proposed innovative trial is for a cropping system that uses a plastic mulch for vegetable crops on a shaped bed, with an overwintering clover cover crop between the vegetable rows throughout the whole year. The purchase of a new FORIGO stone burier allows us to establish shaped bed vegetable rows with only one tractor pass & no herbicides, while maintaining clover from the winter between vegetable rows, thus keeping soil intact in nearly half of the field. This cropping system will be compared to a conventionally tilled & shaped shaped-bed system that uses weed mats instead of cover crops between rows & involves seven or more passes to each row with a tractor with different equipment. Using a comprehensive soil health assessment from Cornell, with assistance from a soil conservationist, we will compare soil health metrics, soil moisture retention capacity, soil organic matter, & soil nutrient content, fuel, water, fertilizer, & herbicide use, weed suppression, & vegetable yields (pounds/acre) between the production systems. We anticipate that compared to conventional practices, the proposed trial will improve soil health, increase soil moisture & organic matter retention, and decrease fuel, water, fertilizer, & herbicide needs—while providing similar weed suppression and similar yields to conventional methods. The project will serve as a case study for the innovative integration of a new technology with soil health practices to improve soil health while maintaining yields & reducing external resource inputs, & will be shared widely through workshops & conferences in collaboration with NRCS & the Worcester County Conservation District.
Homer Soil and Water Conservation District
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AK
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2020
This project will identify, demonstrate, and field test GPS tracking systems(s) suitable for real time remote tracking of the movements of cattle grazed on the 15,670 acre Fox River Flats state grazing lease at the head of Kachemak Bay.
Iowa Soybean Association
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IA
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2020
Increase farmer and agronomist adoption of practices that enhance soil health, specifically soil health testing (SHT) and cover crop adoption, through development of an user-friendly web-based portal that provides practical interpretations of key soil health test results and provides economic information about cover crops as a major soil health enhancement practice in Iowa.
Kansas State University
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KS
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2020
This projects goal is to preserve and stimulate soil health, water quality and soil conservation through examining dynamic changes in nutrient release from winter cereal cover crop tissue throughout the growing season of the main cash crop.
National Tropical Botanical Garden
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HI
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2020
This project involves development of a drone ot use ot revegetate challenging critical areas, development of recommended seeding payloads for lowland mesic forest and dry coastal forest revegetation, tirals, development of technical resources describing this technology, and outreach to share lessons learned.