Deadline: 29-Mar-22
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is pleased to announce the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) Ohio Program to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies in conjunction with agricultural production.
CIG projects are expected to lead to the transfer of conservation technologies, management systems, and innovative approaches (such as market-based systems) to agricultural producers, into government technical manuals and guides, or to the private sector.
CIG generally funds pilot projects, field demonstrations, and on-farm conservation research. On-farm conservation research is defined as an investigation conducted to answer a specific applied conservation question using a statistically valid design while employing farm-scale equipment on farms, ranches or private forest lands.
Priorities
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Urban Agriculture projects that support or lead to:
- the use of innovative methods or approaches to establish and maintain pollinator habitat (for both managed and native species) for urban agriculture.
- innovative rainwater or water reuse approaches that mitigate food safety concerns and reduce costs for urban farms.
- the development of innovative approaches to address elevated moisture and humidity levels in aquaponic systems, including water reuse systems.
- innovative approaches or technologies that conserve and or generate efficient energy on urban agriculture operations.
- efficient, alternative, and innovative management practices to sustain or increase production on soils that have elevated levels of trace metals or other common urban soil contaminants.
- innovative approaches to support the establishment of small-scale poultry, fish and livestock operations in urban agricultural environments.
- the use of small-scale composting systems that improve the quality of compost, prevent pest problems derived from the composting process and provide quality soil amendments tailored to urban farm needs.
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Soil Health projects that support or lead to:
- Increased or improved soil sampling intensity, quality, and/or frequency for targeted Best Management Practices implementation within a farming operation.
- Improvements or innovations to grazing operations that lead to holistic soil management changes, improved weed management, and/or a more diverse, dynamic grazing rotation in response to weather or season-related pressures.
- Innovative whole farm operation composting operations; targeting compost use as an alternative soil amendment to commercial nutrient applications for both organic and conventional farms.
- Novel adaptive management approaches to on-farm soil health management.
- Improvements to management system knowledge of intercropping, prairie strips, and/or pollinator strips including pre and post treatment monitoring, evaluation, and alternative development.
- Improved management strategies for non-ruminant grazing operations.
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Water Quality projects that support or lead to:
- Improved livestock management systems (that include Heave Use Areas) that allow for targeted high soil test/soil loss locations to be more effectively addressed for erosion, nutrient losses, and animal health.
- Innovations that address dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) and nitrogen losses to surface waters from operations dominated by annual cropping including those who target ‘hot spots’ where highest loss risk are occurring within the operation.
- Adaptive management approaches to minimize nutrient loss risk while maximizing profitability.
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Forestry-based Sustainable Natural Ecosystems projects that support or lead to:
- Improvements or innovations to silvopasture operations.
- Improvements or innovations to oak wilt management.
- Novel or innovative invasive plant species control and suppression approaches that include pre and post treatment monitoring, evaluation, and alternative development; for both forestry and wildlife benefits.
- Improvements or innovations to forestry operations that lead to sustainable ecosystem management targets that include wildlife, soil health, water quality, etc.
Funding Information
- Estimated Funding: NRCS Ohio expects to award approximately $300,000 through this opportunity. However, the agency retains the discretion to award a larger or lesser amount.
- Start Dates and Performance Periods: Projects may be between 1 and 3 years in duration. Applicants should plan their projects based on an estimated project start date of August 15, 2022.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants and applications must meet eligibility criteria by the application deadline to be considered for award.
- Eligible applicant type is determined by the implementing program statute.
- Applicant entities identified in the SAM.gov exclusions database as ineligible, prohibited/restricted, or excluded from receiving Federal contracts and certain Federal assistance and benefits will not be considered for Federal funding, as applicable to the funding being requested under this Federal program.
- All U.S.-based non-Federal entities (NFE) and individuals, with the exception of Federal agencies, are eligible to apply for projects carried out in Ohio.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=337913