11/16/07 Conservation Innovation Grants in Idaho

A Twin Falls County farmer is using a 395 thousand dollar Conservation Innovation Grant to study three different methods to land apply lagoon sludge. A 508 thousand dollar CIG grant allows Eastern Idaho potato farmers to evaluate planting in flat wide beds rather than the conventional hilling method. NRCS's Mart Weatherstone says the grants could lead to new conservation technologies. WEATHERSTONE "Ultimately transfer the information gained from the various CIG grant opportunities into our NRCS tech guides and manuals and to be able to transfer that technology and apply that technology statewide or even nationwide." There are two ways that producers can obtain Conservation Innovation Grants; one is through a national competition, the other is an award by a state conservationist. But there's a potential problem; the new farm bill. Will Congress put up the money to keep the CIG program going? WEATHERSTONE "Its all up in the air right now and I don't even want to speculate what's going to happen. Its actually EQIP dollars that's utilized to fund these grant opportunities." On Monday we'll take a look at these two projects and their potential. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott