NEWS

Dave Roper in front of the dragline injection system. This is one of the three land application systems tested as part of the CIG.

BOISE, Idaho, November 8, 2007 -- A grant program designed to stimulate innovative conservation technologies to address natural resource concerns is having success in Idaho.

Dave Roper, who farms in Twin Falls County, received a $395,000 Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) in 2006 from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to study three different methods to land apply lagoon sludge.  He worked with scientists from the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and University of Idaho (UI) to collect emissions and runoff data associated with the three land application methods.

NRCS State Conservationist Richard Sims strongly supports the opportunities that CIG brings to the agricultural industry.  “CIG increases partnerships between public and private entities to accelerate the adoption of promising conservation approaches to address some of our high-priority natural resource concerns.”

Through the grant, Roper purchased a large dragline system that injects manure directly into the ground and an Aerway system that provides some mixing of manure and soil in the top three or four inches. He had a small draghose system that he used on his own farm.

A significant portion of the grant also went to purchase a state-of-art open path ultraviolet system that measures the concentration of gases above the test fields.  The grant also paid for passive traps -- acid treated filter paper -- that measure ammonia. ARS scientists periodically collected the passive traps to verify the ultraviolet system data.

Six different dairies and two hog farms from Gooding to Declo participated in the project. Effluent was applied at the rate of 20,000 gallons per acre, the equivalent of approximately three-quarters of an inch of irrigation water. 

April Leytem, a soil scientist working on the project, is excited about the chance to evaluate systems on a whole field basis rather than small research plots. Comparing six different dairies with different rations and on-farm manure handling systems should also provide good representational data.

So far, the data indicate that using the injection system significantly reduces ammonia levels compared to surface application of the effluent or using an Aerway system.  However, Roper cautions against drawing conclusions based on that information because of soil inconsistencies. He is excited about preliminary results that indicate potential runoff from fields is less than previously thought. As expected, potential runoff is greatest when manure is surface applied, followed by the Aerway and then the injection system.

A second CIG, awarded in 2007, will demonstrate a new planting technology on 10,000 acres of commercial potato production in southeastern Idaho. The $508,000 grant will allow producers the opportunity to evaluate planting in flat wide beds rather than conventional hills in their own farming operation.

Roper hopes more farmers will apply for CIG opportunities if they are available in the future.  “I think we can get a lot more innovative technology disseminated to more grassroots people if more opportunities, like this one, were made available to farmers,” he said.

Program funding for CIG in 2008 is unknown at this time.  NRCS encourages interested persons to check the national website at www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig/ for updates. The competitive grants are made available at the national level first before announcement by select states.  For more information on additional NRCS programs and services, visit www.id.nrcs.usda.gov.

For information on CIG, contact Mark Weatherstone at 208-378-5720 or Bob Bartholomew at 208-378-5703.  Additional information on CIG is available online at www.id.nrcs.usda.gov.

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