USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Announces Recipients of New Conservation Innovation Grants

JACKSON, Miss. (Press Release) — The United States Department of Agriculture/Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has awarded Conservation Innovation Grants (CIGs) to the B.F. Smith Foundation-Delta F.A.R.M. in the amount of $438,750 and to the Holmes County Food Hub for $640,775.

Under CIG, Environmental Quality Incentives Program funds are used to award competitive grants to non-Federal governmental or nongovernmental organizations, Tribes, or individuals. At least 50 percent of the total cost of CIG projects must come from non-federal matching funds, including cash and in-kind contributions provided by the grant recipient. Grantees must work with producers and forestland owners to develop and demonstrate the new technologies and approaches. The grants are funded through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

The Delta F.A.R.M. Program began operation in the summer of 1998. The organization serves the farmers and landowners of the Mississippi Delta by providing technical information on conservation practices and promoting their current conservation efforts.

The Holmes County Food Hub started in 2013 and assists small famers with marketing and promoting their Mississippi grown products to schools throughout Mississippi. They also promote new technologies to small farmers such as sub surface irrigation and poly-culture crop growth.

“We are excited to see receipt of CIG’s in Mississippi,” stated Mississippi NRCS State Conservationist Kurt Readus. “It will help provide innovative ways to promote sustainable agriculture throughout our great state.”

NRCS provides funding opportunities for agriculturalists and others through various programs. CIG enables NRCS to work with other public and private entities to accelerate technology transfer and adoption of promising technologies to address some of the Nation’s most pressing natural resource concerns. CIG will benefit agricultural producers by providing more options for environmental enhancement and compliance with Federal, State, and local regulations.

The funding was made possible by the 2014 Farm Bill. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/farmbill.

To locate your nearest NRCS office, visit; http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app