The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is offering more than $13.6 million in new grants to help agricultural producers implement voluntary conservation practices on farms in Michigan and 18 other states.

The grants are supported with a portion of the $95 million awarded by the USDA Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities to Farmers for Soil Health, a collaboration between the National Corn Growers Association, United Soybean Board, National Pork Producers and NFWF.

The project team in Michigan includes the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan (CMPM), Michigan Soybean Committee, Michigan Pork Producers Association, The Nature Conservancy in Michigan and the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program.

The project goal is to increase the sustained use of cover crops on corn and soybean acres through training that addresses barriers to adoption. Financial incentives, technical assistance and educational opportunities offered by project partners will support this goal over the four years of the grant program.

MAEAP will serve as the primary farm enrollment and technical assistance team for the project. The Nature Conservancy in Michigan will lend communication and outreach support to the project.

“We are excited to bring Farmers for Soil Health to Michigan,” said Kristin Poley, director of research and agronomy at CMPM and project lead for the grant.

“This grant will support technical assistance for cover crop adoption on corn, soybean and pork farms across 55,000 acres in Michigan. By expanding the statewide MAEAP team of technicians and offering farmer outreach and education on cover crop adoption, participating farmers will be equipped with the tools necessary to be successful implementing cover crops on their farms.”

This is the first NFWF grant announcement as part of the Farmers for Soil Health partnership. NFWF is expected to award at least one more technical assistance grant in 2023.

Source: NFWF