USDA Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG)

Who qualifies

• Any legal entity including: agricultural producers and farmer organizations, private businesses and industry groups, universities and research institutions, state and local government agencies, federally recognized tribes, nonprofit organizations
• Projects must develop, test, and evaluate new approaches to conservation on agricultural lands that can be adopted into NRCS conservation practice standards or that address an identified conservation concern not adequately addressed by existing NRCS practices
• The innovation must have broad applicability — not just solving one farm's problem but developing tools, practices, or approaches that NRCS can eventually deploy widely
• For National CIG: applicants must have organizational capacity to manage multi-year federal cooperative agreements (financial management system, experience with federal reporting)
• For On-Farm Trials: agricultural producers and landowners are eligible as primary applicants; trial must occur on working agricultural land
• Must have active SAM.gov UEI registration before submission
• Projects must comply with NEPA, ESA, and other federal environmental compliance requirements

What it covers

How to apply

1. 1

   Choose your CIG track

   Select between National CIG (complex multi-year projects, up to $2M, highest competition), State CIG (simpler projects, up to $75–150K, administered locally by NRCS state office), and On-Farm Trials (farm-scale innovation pilots, up to $250K). State CIG is the most accessible entry point for smaller organizations and first-time CIG applicants.

   ~2 hrs

2. 2

   Contact your NRCS state conservationist

   For State CIG: contact your NRCS state office to obtain current NOFO and learn state-specific priority areas. State offices often have conservation priorities (e.g., water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed states, soil health in Corn Belt states) that guide what proposals are competitive. For National CIG: review the federal NOFO for priority topic areas announced that year.

   ~3 hrs

3. 3

   Register in SAM.gov

   Ensure your organization has an active SAM.gov UEI registration. New registrations take 7–10 business days. You cannot submit via grants.gov without an active SAM registration.

   ~3 hrs

4. 4

   Develop project narrative and budget

   CIG applications require: project narrative (problem statement, innovation description, goals and objectives, evaluation methodology, how outcomes will be disseminated and potentially adopted by NRCS), budget with justification, personnel qualifications, and a technology transfer plan explaining how the innovation will be scalable. Budget must be detailed and defensible — indirect cost rates must match your federally-negotiated rate or the 10% de minimis.

   ~40 hrs

5. 5

   Submit via grants.gov

   Submit through grants.gov before the NOFO deadline. CIG awards are cooperative agreements (not standard grants) — NRCS has substantial involvement in reviewing activities and approving major project changes. This is different from a standard grant where the agency is hands-off. Be prepared for this collaborative relationship post-award.

   ~6 hrs

Industry & certifications

NAICS codes: 111110, 111120, 111130, 112111, 112112, 112210, 541712, 541690, 541990

Deadline & timing

National CIG operates on a federal fiscal year cycle. The FY 2024 NOFO was typically published January with April deadline. State CIG deadlines are set independently by each NRCS state office — timing varies from February through June. On-Farm Trials have a separate solicitation. As of May 2026, FY 2025 National CIG NOFO status could not be confirmed due to NRCS website timeouts. Monitor grants.gov under CFDA 10.912 for the current opportunity.

Programs that stack well

• USDA Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG)
• Epa Water Quality Programs
• Nrcs Eqip Program
• Usda Sbir Nifa
• Nsf Sbir Phase 1

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