NRCS’ Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2020 – CONNECTICUT | USDA NRCS CIG CT CIG 20 GEN0010790

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS CIG CT CIG 20 GEN0010790

The NRCS Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) opportunity for Federal fiscal year 2020 in Connecticut is a competitive, discretionary grant program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). It is designed to push new ideas from the testing stage into real-world use by farmers and other land managers. The core goal is to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies that work alongside agricultural production, meaning projects should both support farming and measurably improve natural resource outcomes.

This particular Connecticut funding round emphasizes innovation that can be demonstrated and then replicated. NRCS expects funded projects to result in practical conservation technologies, management systems, or other innovative approaches that can be transferred beyond the project itself. In practice, that transfer might look like tools and methods being adopted directly by agricultural producers, being incorporated into NRCS technical manuals and guides so the agency can promote them more broadly, or being picked up by the private sector for wider deployment. The program is not meant to fund routine implementation of already-established practices; it is meant to help prove, refine, and scale up new or improved conservation solutions.

CIG typically supports pilot projects, field demonstrations, and on-farm conservation research. Pilot projects are usually early-stage efforts that test a concept under practical conditions. Field demonstrations focus on showing how an innovation performs in real operating environments so producers and partners can evaluate it. On-farm conservation research, as defined in this notice, is an applied investigation aimed at answering a specific conservation question using a statistically valid design, while using farm-scale equipment on working farms, ranches, or private forest lands. That definition signals that NRCS is looking for projects that generate credible, decision-ready evidence rather than informal trials, and that the work needs to be grounded in actual operational settings.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is listed as "NRCS' Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2020 - CONNECTICUT" under Funding Opportunity Number "USDA NRCS CIG CT CIG 20 GEN0010790." It is offered as a grant (not a contract) and falls under the funding activity category of Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number associated with this program is 10.912, which is the standard identifier applicants and institutions often use for compliance, reporting, and grants management.

The notice indicates an anticipated award ceiling of $250,000 per award and an expectation of three awards, which suggests a relatively selective competition at the state level. The posting (creation) date was April 2, 2020, and the original application closing date was May 29, 2020. Eligibility is described broadly as "Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification)," meaning that the specific eligible entity types were provided in the full announcement details, but the summary data here does not spell them out. In many CIG competitions, eligible applicants can include a mix of organizations such as non-profits, higher education institutions, state or local governments, Tribes, and sometimes for-profit entities, often with requirements around partnerships and producer involvement; however, the definitive eligibility conditions for this Connecticut FY2020 round would be the ones stated in the full funding announcement.

Overall, this grant opportunity is aimed at turning promising conservation innovations into proven, shareable solutions for Connecticut agriculture and working lands. Competitive proposals would typically be expected to clearly describe the innovation, explain the conservation problem being addressed, lay out a sound approach for testing or demonstrating the solution (including statistical validity for on-farm research), and show a credible pathway for getting the results adopted by producers or integrated into NRCS guidance or private-sector offerings.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NRCS’ Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2020 – CONNECTICUT" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.912.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 02, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 29, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for USDA NRCS CIG CT CIG 20 GEN0010790

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