Vermont Business Magazine USDA will invest $26.6 million in 45 new, national projects to spur agricultural innovation in rural and urban communities through its Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) in 2016, said Vicky Drew, State Conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Vermont. One of these projects is located in Vermont and will help reduce greenhouse gases and nutrient loading by providing another option for how dairy farms manage manure. In Vermont, a $1.2 million Conservation Innovation Grant was awarded to NativeEnergy, Inc to implement a mobile manure solids separation project. Native Energy is a leading developer of high-quality emission reduction and renewable energy investments for leaders in corporate sustainability. Through their innovative Help Buildproject model, NativeEnergy, with its clients, has invested and built over 70 new and business-relevant projects that provide meaningful social and environmental benefits to communities around the world.
“NRCS is absolutely thrilled about this effort to help dairy farmers maximize their economic potential while minimizing their impact to climate change and water quality,” said Drew.
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Entity: NativeEnergy, Inc. Project Summary: NativeEnergy, Inc.’s Mobile Separator Project (MSP) is an innovative approach to improve dairy farms’ manure management, reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) at the farm, and capture and remove excess nutrients from the farm. The MSP will employ a technology that is proven in the broader agriculture industry (i.e., separators at larger farms with anaerobic digesters) but has historically been very difficult or impossible to financially justify at smaller farms due to poor economies of scale. The MSP addresses the economies of scale issue for locations where there are a number of small dairy farms in close proximity to each other. |
The grant from NRCS will enable NativeEnergy to implement an innovative approach to improve dairy farms’ manure management, reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) at the farm, and capture and remove excess nutrients. The project will employ a technology that is proven in the broader agriculture industry (i.e., separators at larger farms with anaerobic digesters) but has historically been very difficult or impossible to financially justify at smaller farms. The NativeEnergy mobile project addresses this issue for locations where there are a number of small dairy farms in close proximity to each other.
"NativeEnergy is pleased to have been awarded funding through the Conservation Innovative Grant Program,” says Jeff Bernicke, President of NativeEnergy. "In partnership with Ben and Jerry's, we have installed similar technology on several Vermont farms to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The CIG funds will expand our efforts to reach smaller dairy farms in Vermont. In addition to the climate benefits, these farms will be able to reduce their bedding costs and more efficiently manage nutrients, which has the potential to reduce loading in the Lake Champlain watershed."
Nationally, the CIG funding will leverage more than $32.5 million in matching funds from cash and in-kind sources from the grantees for a total of $59.1 million, more than doubling the federal investment. The 2016 projects focus on water quality, conservation finance and assistance to existing and potential historically underserved USDA customers. CIG, administered by NRCS, is funded through the popular Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).
A full listing of this fiscal year’s nationally selected projects is available here.
Additionally, a total of $242,434 in federal funds was made available to four projects under the 2016 Vermont CIG state competition. The Vermont State CIG's included the categories of natural resource concerns and technology needs and were awarded to projects led by UVM. You can read more details about these state CIG’s here.
2009 - 2016 Vermont State Conservation Innovation Grants
A total of $242,434 in federal funds were made available to four projects under the 2016 Vermont CIG state competition. The Vermont State CIG's included the category of Natural Resources Concerns and Technology Needs for possible funding and seven applications were received. The funded projects include:
- Applying Gypsum as a Soil Amendment to Reduce Available Phosphorus on Fields with High Soil Test Phosphorus Levels
- Development of Phosphorus Mass Balances on Vermont Farms
- Economic Analysis of Cover Crops & Reduced Tillage Systems in Vermont
- Innovative Tools to Improve Nutrient and Financial Accounting of Conservation Practices on Vermont Farms.
Detailed project descriptions are available here
- $166,589 in federal funds was made available for three projects under the 2015 Vermont CIG state competition. The Vermont State CIG had two categories of natural resources concerns and technology needs for possible funding and received three applications. The categories were: Water Quality and Energy. The funded projects are: Pilot Project Using Existing LiDAR to Identify and Map Forest Roads, Trails, and Log Landings on Private Forests in Vermont; Soap Bubble Insulation: A New Approach to Energy Conservation in Northern Greenhouses; and Use of Water Treatment Residuals to Reduce Phosphorus Availability in Agricultural Soils in Vermont
- $50,000 in federal funds was made available for one project under the 2014 Vermont CIG state competition. The Vermont State CIG had three categories of natural resources concerns and technology needs for possible funding and received six applications. The categories were: Water Quality & Soil Health, Forestry/Wildlife and Energy. The funded project is: Tile Drainage Phosphorus Removal System in the Rock River Watershed.
- $220,316 in federal funds was made available for three projects under the 2013 Vermont CIG state competition. The Vermont State CIG had three categories of natural resources concerns and technology needs for possible funding and received ten applications. The categories were: Water Quality, Forestry/Wildlife and Energy. The funded projects are: Better Cover Crop Mixes in Vermont; Development of a Web-based APEX Tool for Optimizing Best Management Practices and Conservation Planning on Vermont Farms; and Soil Health Demonstration Farm on Clay Soil.
- $269,620 in federal funds was made available for five projects under the 2012 Vermont CIG state competition. The Vermont State CIG had three categories of natural resources concerns and technology needs for possible funding and received nine applications. The categories were: Energy, Water Quality, and Wildlife. The funded projects are: Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition for Improved Water Quality; Development of an Agricultural Water Quality Certainty Program in Vermont; Compost Sourced Heat Pump System for Heating a Vermont Greenhouse; Innovative Technologies for Energy Conservation in Vermont Greenhouses; and Using Grass-Based Livestock Farms to Demonstrate Regenerative Agriculture.
- $153,352 in federal funds was made available for four projects under the 2011 Vermont CIG state competition. The Vermont State CIG had six categories of natural resources concerns and technology needs for possible funding and received seven applications. The categories were: Energy, Soil Quality, Priority Landscapes, Nutrient Management, Program Outreach and Conservation Technology Transfer to Targeted Groups, and Sustainable Agriculture. The funded projects are: Digging Deeper: Improving the Implementation of Nutrient Management Practices in Vermont, Fuel from the Field to the Flue: Grass Pellet Heating Equipment Combustion Optimization Project, Innovative Technologies for Energy Conservation in Vermont Greenhouses, and Yestermorrow’s Greenhouse: A Model of Innovation.
- $69,812 in federal funds was made available for one project under the 2010 Vermont CIG state competition. The Vermont State CIG had three categories of natural resources concerns and technology needs for possible funding. The categories were: Promotion of Sustainable Agriculture, Energy, and Priority Landscapes. The funded project is: Increasing Livestock Production for Vermont Markets by Improving and Reclaiming Marginal Pasture.
- $317,596 in federal funds was made available for seven projects under the 2009 Vermont CIG state competition. The Vermont State CIG had four categories of natural resources concerns and technology needs for possible funding: Atmospheric Resources, Farm and Forest Energy Production, Maintaining Working Landscapes Sustainably, and Soil and Water Resources. Funded projects are: White River Watershed Landscape Auction, Anaerobic Digester Effluent Treatment to Reduce Agricultural Atmospheric Emissions, Pellet Fired Boiler for Multiple Greenhouses, Promoting Zone Tillage among Commercial Vegetable Growers in Vermont, Optimizing the Greenhouse Gas Storage Capacity and Productivity of Degraded Forest Lands, Increasing Carbon Sequestration in Vermont Pastures, and Designing a Sustainable Corn Silage Cropping System for Vermont.
2016 Vermont State CIG Application Package Materials
Vermont CIG state funds for projects between one and three years in duration were awarded through a statewide competitive grants process. The Announcement of Program Funding document outlines the entire application process. The grant application package materials identify the objectives for CIG projects, details on topics that were considered for funding, the eligibility criteria for projects and associated instructions needed to apply to CIG. Complete applications received by June 3, 2016 were evaluated by a technical peer review panel and scored based on the criteria identified in the Announcement of Program Funding.
Source: Colchester, Vermont, October 4, 2016 – USDA. For more information about CIGs in Vermont, visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/vt/programs/financial/cig/