Success Stories

NRCS established an intentional conservation finance funding source through CIG, which aims to stimulate development and adoption of innovative conservation technologies and approaches and has funded projects led by over 35 conservation finance entities. CIG’s conservation finance projects have invested approximately $25 million into market-based projects, from pay-for-success programs that aim to reduce water usage or nutrient pollution, to crafting new loan mechanisms that support farmers as they transition to organic agriculture systems.

In 2017, Sustainable Conservation was awarded a national Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) to deliver liquid manure-an abundant fertilizer source found on dairies- in a more efficient and effective way. The project involved an innovative method of delivering manure nutrients through subsurface drip irrigation (SDI).

Through CIG funding for multiple projects over 10 years, the ARS National Peanut Research Laboratory, Flint River Conservation District, the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission and the University of Georgia worked to develop and test an irrigation water management tool for farmers, called Irrigator Pro.

The Agriculture Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF) was initially developed through a 2011 Conservation Innovation Grant award and has grown into a powerful tool used for the protection and restoration of watersheds. The ACPF brings big data, technology, producers, and conservation planners together to improve water quality.