News - Arizona
News - National
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NRCS Announcing Grants to Help Farmers, Ranchers Adapt to Drought
$5 Million in Conservation Innovation Grants Available for Development of
Novel Agricultural Practices
WASHINGTON -
Aug. 21, 2012 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) announced the availability of up to $5 million in
grants to evaluate and demonstrate agricultural practices that help farmers and
ranchers adapt to drought. NRCS is taking applications for Conservation
Innovation Grants (CIG) to help producers build resiliency into their production
systems so they can adapt to climatic extremes, such as the historic drought
impacting the nation.
NRCS is offering the grants to partnering entities to evaluate innovative,
field-based conservation technologies and approaches. These technologies and/or
approaches should lead to improvements such as enhancing the water-holding
capacity in soils and installing drought-tolerant grazing systems, which will
help farms and ranches become more resilient to drought.
“Severe drought conditions across the U.S. have greatly impacted the livelihood
of our farmers and ranchers,” said NRCS Chief Dave White. “Conservation
Innovation Grants allow us to generate and deploy as soon as possible
cutting-edge ideas that help farmers and ranchers run sustainable and profitable
operations.”
Grant applications are due Oct. 15, 2012. Private individuals, Tribes,
local and state governments and non-governmental organizations can apply.
Funds will be awarded through a competitive grants process for projects lasting
for one to three years. Apply electronically at
www.grants.gov/ or contact the NRCS National CIG office at (703) 235-8065.
NRCS is especially
interested in projects that demonstrate:
- Cropping or grazing
systems that increase resiliency to drought through improved soil health;
- Increases in
available soil water holding capacity by enhancing organic matter with
reduced tillage, cover crops and organic amendments;
- Improvements in
water use efficiency for agricultural production;
- Coordination with
NRCS Plant Material Centers in using drought resistant plants and practices;
- Recommendations for
appropriate nutrient management following an extended drought;
- Analysis on a
regional basis of how agricultural production and conservation systems
faired during drought conditions;
- Agricultural
approaches that flourished in low-precipitation areas;
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Traditional/historical production practices that have proven effective in
dealing with drought;
- Alternative feeding
systems for confined animal operations that incorporate novel
drought-tolerant feedstocks;
- Alternative housing
or cooling systems for improved energy efficiency and better climate control
in confined animal operations; and
- Technologies that
reduce water use in confined animal operations.
View the complete
Announcement of Program Funding at
www.grants.gov or
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/cig/.
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Links:
Conservation
Innovation Grant Awards for Arizona
Conservation Innovation Grant Website
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