April 1, 2021
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Franklin Egan, Director of Education at Pasa Sustainable Agriculture, an NSAC member organization. This article originally appeared in March 2021 on Pasa’s blog. Our new report offers fresh insights into how farmers can improve soil stewardship to more effectively protect ecosystems and communities, better withstand severe weather, and […]
December 13, 2019
Conservation innovators recently received a major infusion of support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which last month announced over $24 million in awards for On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials (On-Farm Trials). Sixteen projects received awards this cycle ranging from $280,000 to $3,000,000. These projects will advance innovative conservation practices […]
May 31, 2019
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced the availability of $12.5 million for the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program. This funding is in addition to the $25 million in funding that was announced last week for on-farm trials (a new CIG sub-program established under the 2018 Farm Bill). This […]
May 17, 2019
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced the availability of $25 million in annual funding to advance the adoption and evaluation of innovative conservation practices on agricultural lands. The funding for on-farm trials is available as a sub-program of the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program, authorized under […]
July 27, 2018
The natural resource and environmental challenges of agriculture are constantly evolving. In order to keep pace, farmers and ranchers must continuously innovate and implement targeted solutions to the specific challenges of their region, climate, and farm type. The federal farm bill’s Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program is designed to help farmers and farmer-focused organizations to […]
January 4, 2018
The New Year may have just started, but there are already many federal funding opportunities available for eligible farmers, ranchers, non-profits, and universities. Several of these opportunities opened last year and have rapidly approaching deadlines. Others have been more recently posted, and you may have missed the Request for Application (RFA) announcement during the end-of-year […]
June 9, 2017
In order to support the development of promising new conservation approaches, yesterday the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it will award more than $22.6 million in Conservation Innovation Grants (CIGs) to 33 projects that have demonstrated great potential in the advancement of resource conservation. This year’s projects focus on: conservation finance, pay-for-success, water […]
November 9, 2016
Farming is equal parts art and science; farmers and ranchers continuously combine their time-tested knowledge and experiences with creativity and innovation in order to develop new practices that help improve their businesses and protect their lands and waters. To support and encourage ingenuity in on-farm resource conservation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources […]
September 9, 2016
In an effort to spur innovation in agricultural production and sustainable management, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $26 million to 45 projects that show promise in promoting on-farm conservation. The awards are issued through USDA’s Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program – part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Since its establishment […]
March 9, 2016
Every day farmers and ranchers are developing creative ways to conserve the air, water, and soil on their lands.