READING, PA, July 18, 2024 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $90 million in 53 Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) projects, which support the development of new tools, approaches, practices and technologies to further natural resource conservation on private lands. This year, increased funds were available because of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which is funding CIG projects that address climate change, with a particular focus on innovative solutions to reduce livestock emissions of enteric methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
“Over the last 20 years, USDA’s Conservation Innovation Grants have helped spur new tools and technologies to conserve natural resources, build resilience in producers’ operations and improve their bottom lines. Thanks to President Biden’s historic Inflation Reduction Act, we are able to further empower our conservation partners, as well as help meet the demand from producers, to engage in conservation practices that are good for profitable farming, good for rural economies and good for the climate,” Secretary Vilsack said.
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is awarding more than $69.7 million for CIG On-Farm Trials projects and more than $20.2 million for CIG Classic projects. Secretary Vilsack announced the CIG grants during an Investing in America roundtable in Pennsylvania while highlighting USDA programs focused on innovative climate strategies. In total, the Inflation Reduction Act provides $19.5 billion over five years to support USDA’s oversubscribed conservation programs, including CIG grants. The Inflation Reduction Act, part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, represents the single largest investment in climate and clean energy solutions in American history. This conservation funding flows directly into local communities and helps ensure farmers receive the financial assistance to buy equipment, hire labor, and take the necessary steps to implement these practices. This helps producers with their bottom line and lowers their costs for the implementation of conservation and climate-smart practices.
Two awarded CIG projects will take place in Pennsylvania. One will empower farmers to make innovative and holistic farm management decisions to improve nutrient management in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The other will deploy precision ag technology to measure forage availability on dairy farms and provide the technical assistance, data collection and evaluation of both economic and conservation impacts of using the technology. This assistance and information is intended to help farmers transition from continuous grazing to managed grazing.
A list of CIG project grants is available on the CIG website.
NRCS is committed to the success of all of our nation’s producers, businesses, and partners. Some of our nation's producers belong to communities that have been or are marginalized in ways that have diminished their ability to farm and ranch successfully. These producers play a vital role in securing a healthy agricultural economy for our country and protecting, enhancing, and sustaining our valuable natural resources. NRCS encourages proposal submissions from entities that represent, are partnered with, or are composed entirely of producers belonging to such communities.
Biden-Harris Administration Efforts
The Inflation Reduction Act, part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, has bolstered funding for several other conservation programs as well. For example, the Inflation Reduction Act increased funding for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, and NRCS made available $1.5 billion in April this year for projects that support projects that save farmers money, create new revenue streams, and increase productivity. In March, USDA announced its plans to invest $138 million of financial assistance in 138 new climate-smart conservation easements, through which farmers and ranchers are conserving wetlands, grasslands and prime farmlands.
Additionally, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced in December 2023 an investment of $10 million to advance the science of reducing methane — a potent greenhouse gas — produced naturally by ruminant animals. Through its efforts to support climate-smart agriculture, USDA is investing across all 50 states. This program expands markets for America’s climate-smart commodities, leverages the greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart commodity production, and provides direct, meaningful benefits to production agriculture, including for small and underserved producers.
More About the Conservation Innovation Grants Program
Through creative problem solving and innovation, CIG partners work to address our nation's water quality, water quantity, air quality, soil health and wildlife habitat challenges, all while improving agricultural operations.
Since 2004, CIG has invested $541.9 million to fund 929 innovative projects and 467 partners. This includes $170 million for 121 projects during the Biden-Harris Administration.
The national CIG program has two parts: CIG On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials and CIG Classic. Through CIG Classic, partners develop new tools, technologies, and strategies to support next-generation conservation efforts on working lands and develop market-based solutions to resource challenges. For CIG Classic, this year’s funding priorities were:
- Forestry
- Habitat Conservation and Restoration for Wildlife and Invertebrates
- Managing Agricultural Lands to Improve Local Water Quality
- Energy Conservation
- Economics
- Strengthening Conservation through Indigenous Knowledge
CIG On-Farm Trials projects feature collaboration between NRCS and partners to implement on-the-ground conservation activities and then evaluate their impact. CIG On-Farm Trials support more widespread adoption and evaluation of innovative conservation approaches in partnership with agricultural producers. Incentive payments are provided to producers to offset the risk of implementing innovative approaches. For CIG On-Farm Trials, this year’s funding priorities were:
- Feeding Management and Enteric Methane Reduction
- Irrigation Water Management Technologies
- Nutrient Management
- Grazing Lands
- Soil Health Demo Trials
The Soil Health Demonstration Trial (SHD) component of CIG On-Farm Trials exclusively focuses on adoption of conservation practices and implementation of systems that improve soil health and contribute to the Inflation Reduction Act goals of increasing carbon capture and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
A critical element of each CIG On-Farm Trials project is the project evaluation. Partners must propose robust scientific approaches to their CIG On-Farm Trials, resulting in data and analyses of the environmental, financial and, to the extent possible, social impacts of the trials. NRCS will use the results of CIG On-Farm Trial project evaluations and analyses to explore the development of new NRCS conservation assistance, guidance documents, technical tools, and conservation practice standards, or modifications to existing ones. For example, CIG partners worked to develop and test an irrigation water management tool for farmers, called Irrigator Pro. What started as a cloud-based platform can now be used as a smart phone app to help farmers determine when to irrigate for optimal crop growth while conserving water resources and minimizing irrigation costs.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
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