FY19 Arkansas CIG | USDA NRCS AR CIG 19 GEN0010102

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS AR CIG 19 GEN0010102

The FY19 Arkansas CIG (Conservation Innovation Grants) opportunity is a competitive grant program run by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Arkansas. Its core goal is to accelerate the development and real-world adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies that can be used alongside working agricultural production. In practical terms, the program is meant to help move promising conservation ideas out of theory and into fields, pastures, ranches, and private forest lands, with a clear emphasis on solutions that producers can actually use and that can be scaled or replicated.

A major expectation of CIG-funded projects is technology transfer and adoption. Projects should be designed so that the results can be handed off in a usable form, whether that means producers adopting the approach directly, NRCS incorporating findings into technical manuals and guidance, or the private sector picking up and disseminating the tools, methods, or systems. Rather than supporting purely academic research, CIG generally supports applied work such as pilot projects, field demonstrations, and on-farm conservation research. The program defines on-farm conservation research as applied investigations that answer a specific conservation question using a statistically valid design, while using farm-scale equipment on real operations (farms, ranches, or private forest lands). That definition signals that proposals should be rigorous enough to produce credible results, but grounded in actual operating conditions rather than small plot or lab-only studies.

The types of projects CIG is looking for fall into two broad buckets. First are approaches that incentivize conservation adoption, including market-based systems and conservation finance approaches (for example, mechanisms that pay for outcomes, help monetize environmental benefits, or reduce the financial barriers to adopting conservation). Second are conservation technologies, practices, and systems, meaning new or improved tools and management methods that measurably protect natural resources while fitting into agricultural production. Funded work can include development and field testing, demonstration and on-farm research, evaluation, or implementation, as long as the project is clearly framed around innovation and measurable conservation value.

NRCS also lays out practical requirements that shape what a strong proposal should look like. Projects must comply with all applicable federal, tribal, state, and local laws and regulations throughout the entire project period. The technology or approach being proposed should already have enough prior study behind it to suggest a high probability of success; CIG is positioned as a bridge to broader adoption, not a program for very early-stage concepts with unknown feasibility. Applicants are expected to demonstrate, evaluate, and verify effectiveness in the field, including whether the approach is useful, affordable, and usable under real-world conditions. Projects should also focus on adaptation and transfer, meaning they should improve performance and encourage adoption by translating an innovation into practices, systems, and incentives that others can implement. Another eligible pathway is introducing a proven conservation technology or approach to a geographic area or agricultural sector where it is not currently used, which supports expansion and replication when there is a clear need and a strong plan for uptake.

A key restriction is that CIG generally does not fund items that are already eligible for funding in the project area through an Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contract under an established conservation practice standard. The main exception is when the proposed use demonstrates clear innovation, meaning there must be a compelling explanation of what is genuinely new (for instance, a novel application, integration, performance improvement, verification method, or incentive structure) rather than simply implementing an existing, standard practice with no innovative component.

From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity is a discretionary grant (not a formula entitlement), listed under CFDA 10.912. The funding opportunity title is "FY19 Arkansas CIG" with opportunity number USDA NRCS AR CIG 19 GEN0010102. It was posted on April 1, 2019, with an original application deadline of May 31, 2019. The award ceiling is $75,000 per award, and NRCS expected to make about five awards. Eligibility is listed as "Others" with additional clarification referenced in the full announcement, which typically indicates that eligibility may include certain non-federal entities such as non-profits, universities, local governments, or other organizations depending on the program rules for that year and state competition.

Overall, the FY19 Arkansas CIG opportunity is best understood as funding for practical, field-tested conservation innovation in agriculture, where the applicant can show (1) the idea is beyond the speculative stage, (2) there is a solid plan to test and verify outcomes under real conditions, (3) results will be transferable and likely to be adopted, and (4) the work is not simply duplicating what EQIP already pays for unless there is a clearly articulated innovative leap.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY19 Arkansas CIG" 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 01, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 31, 2019. (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 $75,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for USDA NRCS AR CIG 19 GEN0010102

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