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 601 - 610 of 1760 projects
Purdue University
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IN
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2014
A comparative soil health assessment approach is needed to document the ability of current and proposed soil health test methods to differentiate known healthy soils from “less healthy” soils. A comprehensive evaluation of soil health assessment methods will be made on soil samples collected from fields with a long history of soil and crop management practices that improve soil health (e.g. no-till/never till systems with Cover Crops) to the same soils collected from fields in close proximity to the healthy soil location, but under more traditional soil and crop management systems (e.g. rotational tillage without Cover Crops). The high-carbon amendments targeted by the proposed field demonstration project have been previously proven to have positive effects at smaller scales; this project will demonstrate the positive impacts of these amendment applications at an agriculturally relevant scale. Differences in soil health will be quantified by measuring soil physical, chemical, biological properties, soil microbial community structure as well as the Solvita and Haney soil tests. A management protocol that farmers can use to conduct large scale in situ soil rehabilitation on mined lands and other areas where surface soils have been dramatically altered will be developed.
The Pennsylvania State University
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PA
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2014
Commercial poultry and livestock farms supply 95 percent of the meat, eggs and milk the people of this nation consume. However, they are at the threshold of a sustainability crisis. This project will demonstrate and multiply the adoption of five conservation impacts of planting buffers and biomass on these modern commercial farms. Vegetative buffers can scrub exhaust fan emissions of odor, NH3 and particulate matter comprised of fine particle dust, endotoxins and microorganisms, reducing their impact on those working or living near the farm. Riparian buffers can filter nutrients, hormones and bacteria associated with runoff events from barn roofs, access roads and barn yards. Shade and windbreaks can reduce the solar load and winter winds drawing heat from the poultry barns for Energy conservation. Biomass crops such as switch and Miscanthus grass, willows and poplar can be grown for bedding materials and the spent litter can be burned replacing fossil fuels utilized in brooding birds and heating animal facilities. And lastly, the screened and landscaped appearance of farms with visually pleasing trees and shrubs can improve the image of these modern high density animal enterprises at the urban-rural interface. The environmental impacts of these conservation practices are highly transferable among the Chesapeake Bay states and the rest of the nation. Environmental assessment indicators for water and air quality show there is potential emissions reduction and contaminant filtration of 28 to 50 percent.
Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, UW-Extension
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WI
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2014
Managing nitrogen (N) successfully for crop production can be a challenge. Whether N is applied as fertilizer or manure, it can quickly transform into nitrate, which can be easily leached through the soil profile. To combat this issue many farmers use a variety of N management practices intended to minimize losses and optimize uptake by the crop. These practices might include multiple split-applications, use of controlled release fertilizers, avoiding early fall applications of manure when possible, or using Cover Crops. One benchmark a farmer can use to evaluate the relative environmental and economic efficiency of their N management practices for corn production is nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Through the development of a farmer network for nutrient use efficiency and water quality, farmers will learn which operation records and methods are necessary to complete the NUE assessment. Participants will learn how to conduct their own nitrogen use efficiency assessments, and evaluate the effectiveness of different cropping practices designed to decrease N loss through leaching or volatilization.
Utah State University
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UT
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2014
Agricultural productivity and environmental quality are threatened by poor targeting and implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs), which may unnecessarily take land out of production and reduce social and environmental benefits gained from conservation practices. Significant progress on reducing non-point sediment and nutrient pollution has been hindered by low BMP adoption rates, limited maintenance and poor performance in some settings. This project combines high-resolution, process-based bio-physical modeling with individual-agent socio-economic modeling to evaluate optimal combinations of site-specific BMPs at the watershed scale to enhance BMP adoption and effectiveness, while not compromising agricultural productivity and water quality. The primary goal will be evaluation of sociological, economic and bio-physical barriers to BMP adoption and maintenance at the watershed scale, focusing specifically on USDA priorities of: barriers to BMP adoption; bundling conservation measures; watershed-scale impacts of conservation practices and agricultural wetland mitigation banks. Outreach efforts will involve communicating directly with producers and state and local agency staff via surveys, interviews, presentations and a project website that will synthesize results and provide a mechanism for direct feedback from producers, agency staff and other stakeholders.
Clemson University
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SC
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2014
On average, growers in the U.S. apply about 90 lb/acre nitrogen for cotton, 140 lb/acre for corn and 90 lb/acre for wheat, for a total of 9 million tons for these three crops. High production costs make it increasingly important for our growers to reduce crop input costs while maximizing yields to stay competitive in the global market. For example, a 20 percent reduction in nitrogen usage could save cotton, corn and wheat growers over $1.8 billion annually. Several researchers across the cotton and corn producing states have developed algorithms for nitrogen fertilization based on optical sensors. However, nitrogen application algorithms developed in other regions either under or overestimated nitrogen rates for crop production in the Southeastern Coastal Plain region. The overarching goal of this demonstration project is to assist cotton, corn and wheat farmers in the region to adopt sensor-based nitrogen application (SNA), an innovative and proven conservation technology for achieving 4R nutrient management. The system is designed specifically for Coastal Plain region to account for soil and climatic characteristics. It combines sensor based, site-specific nitrogen application with soil amendments based on soil management zones and will enhance nitrogen use efficiency and farm profitability while substantially reducing nitrogen use and its adverse impact on ground and surface water quality by applying fertilizer at optimum rates. This technology is designed to assist farms of all sizes–especially small-scale, limited resource operations. Compared to uniform rate applications, the SNA system has the potential to reduce nitrogen usage by 30 to 70 percent in cotton, corn and wheat production.
The Regents of the University of California
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CA
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2014
As 30 percent of U.S. food crops depend on honey bee pollination, the implications of ongoing declines are of growing concern, particularly as Colony Collapse Disorder continues to claim over 30 percent of managed honey bee hives per year. Recent research has begun to explore the potential of native bees to supplement pollination services. However, more is needed to quantify the impacts of native bee farming in diverse agricultural systems and regions, identify methods to encourage the best native bees for specific crops and engage farmers in implementation. This project supports an innovative, farmer-initiated effort that aligns with a number of NRCS goals for establishing, monitoring, and evaluating pollinator Habitat, and educating and engaging agricultural producers in pollinator conservation.
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.
University of Vermont and State Agricultural College
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VT
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2014
Soil compaction can be a significant yield-limitation and conservation concern. Compacted soils often result in poor drainage, increased runoff, reduced soil aeration and decreased root penetration and subsequent plant-access to available soil moisture. The compaction problem is common on many farms, especially in cool, humid regions of the country with a relatively short growing season. To remediate deep compaction, producers often employ deep tillage, or subsoiling, in an effort to loosen soil to reduce bulk density and allow for deeper root penetration and improved percolation of soil water. Management practices that involve less soil disturbance, such as cover cropping and no-till, can also help remediate and prevent compaction by improving overall soil health and "bio-drilling." Furthermore, soil moisture status within the soil profile, and its susceptibility to compaction or fracture, is commonly assumed without reliable qualitative or quantitative indicators. Demonstrating user-friendly and inexpensive on-farm soil moisture monitoring, and its meaningfulness to compaction prevention, is needed by farmers working to improve soil health. This project will demonstrate how soil health, and specifically structure, available water capacity, and ability to transmit water, are influenced by management practices intended to alleviate compaction.
The National Grazing Lands Coalition
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TX
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2014
Livestock producers should perceive themselves as a grass farmer and not just a livestock producer. The most successful producers look at themselves a step further, as soil managers. This project will conduct outreach, education and demonstration activities on how prescribed grazing impacts pasture and range productivity, conservation and soil health using rainfall simulators. The use of the rainfall simulator will help historically underserved producers to visualize and comprehend the potential for greater rainfall infiltration and lesser rainfall runoff on grazing lands with a high level of grazing management.
University of Montana
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MT
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2014
Ecological site descriptions (ESDs) describe the ability of a site to produce and support particular types and amounts of vegetation based on soil, climate and topography. State-and-transition models (STMs) describe changes in vegetation and soils within an ecological site in response to management and other factors. Livestock producers and local natural resource staff can play an important role in the development of STMs because they have knowledge of historic management and other factors potentially impacting plant communities at these sites. This project will incorporate information from local natural resource professionals and livestock producers into STM development. Ecological sites can also act as a valuable framework for assessing wildlife Habitat characteristics; however, specific wildlife Habitat needs are not currently addressed in ESDs. Birds can serve as useful indicators of ecological sites because they are easily identifiable and frequently monitored. In Montana, several bird species associated with rangeland ecological sites are species of conservation concern (SOC), including greater sage- grouse, Sprague’s pipit, and long-billed curlew. The project will link ESDs and STMs with bird Habitat requirements, providing an innovative approach to understanding how these tools can be used to guide conservation and management of wildlife species in conjunction with livestock production.