
Press Release
NRCS has up to $170,000 in FY 2023 Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) funding to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies in conjunction with agricultural production in Rhode Island.
Explore the new CIG website to learn about funding opportunities, find grantee resources, access information about past projects, and more.
NRCS has up to $170,000 in FY 2023 Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) funding to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies in conjunction with agricultural production in Rhode Island.
Applications are requested from eligible government agencies, non-governmental organizations or individuals. Funds are awarded through a competitive process. Projects may be between one and three years in duration (anticipated project start date of September 15, 2023). The maximum award amount for any individual project will not exceed $170,000 in FY 2023. At least 10 percent of the total funds available for CIG in FY 2023 will be set aside for proposals from Historically Underserved producers, veteran farmers or ranchers, or community-based organizations comprised of or representing these entities. The closing date to submit 2023 applications is June 24, 2023.
For details or to apply please visit Grants.gov and search for funding opportunity number USDA-NRCS-RI-CIG-23-NOFO0003101.
For Fiscal Year 2023, CIG will focus on the following topics – one or more may be selected for proposals:
Proposed projects must be performed in Rhode Island.
For more information on how to apply, including Webinars, Sample grant application documents, and guides to federal grant applications, please visit https://cig.sc.egov.usda.gov/applicants. For funding opportunity details or to apply please visit Grants.gov and search for funding opportunity number USDA-NRCS-RI-CIG-23-NOFO0003101.
Contact your local service center to start your application.
Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease?
Natural Resources Conservation Service offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.
To get started with NRCS, we recommend you stop by your local NRCS field office. We’ll discuss your vision for your land.
NRCS provides landowners with free technical assistance, or advice, for their land. Common technical assistance includes: resource assessment, practice design and resource monitoring. Your conservation planner will help you determine if financial assistance is right for you.
We’ll walk you through the application process. To get started on applying for financial assistance, we’ll work with you:
Once complete, we’ll work with you on the application, or CPA 1200.
Applications for most programs are accepted on a continuous basis, but they’re considered for funding in different ranking periods. Be sure to ask your local NRCS district conservationist about the deadline for the ranking period to ensure you turn in your application in time.
As part of the application process, we’ll check to see if you are eligible. To do this, you’ll need to bring:
If you don’t have a farm tract number, you can get one from USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Typically, the local FSA office is located in the same building as the local NRCS office. You only need a farm tract number if you’re interested in financial assistance.
NRCS will take a look at the applications and rank them according to local resource concerns, the amount of conservation benefits the work will provide and the needs of applicants.
If you’re selected, you can choose whether to sign the contract for the work to be done.
Once you sign the contract, you’ll be provided standards and specifications for completing the practice or practices, and then you will have a specified amount of time to implement. Once the work is implemented and inspected, you’ll be paid the rate of compensation for the work if it meets NRCS standards and specifications.