The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service today announced funding to Newtrient through the Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) program to evaluate fifteen technologies and practices across the country over the next three years.

One of the biggest barriers for farmers to adopt on‐farm technologies and practices is access to technical resources and expertise to incentivize sustainable projects and investments. This project will help stimulate interest and adoption by evaluating how select technologies and practices efficiently use manure to improve water quality and develop market-ready products.

“We are excited that NRCS has funded Newtrient through the Conservation Innovation Grant and are eager to provide our farmer members with this important information needed to implement new technologies that can help reduce the environmental footprint of dairy,” said David Darr, Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer at Dairy Farmers of America.

Through key partnerships with land‐grant universities, technology providers, dairy farmers with grant fund-matching from A&L Great Lakes, and Dairy Management Inc., Newtrient’s goal is to evaluate fifteen technologies and practices for impact on the environment and the quality of concentrated, usable nutrients that can be used to reduce tillage and improve nutrient use and soil health.

Many of the technologies and practices that will be evaluated already exist today and can be found in the Newtrient Solutions Catalog. While the solutions exist, this project will validate their performance and potentially help farmers gain access to additional incentives and funding to support adoption.

“This is an extension of Newtrient’s ongoing work with the USDA’s NRCS and U.S. dairy. It is a step in the right direction and will provide invaluable information to help the dairy community identify viable technology and practice solutions to reach its 2050 environmental goals,” said Chris Kopman, General Manager at Newtrient.

At the conclusion of this project, the team will share testing data, case studies and results from various regions, on farms of various sizes to help inform environmental benefits and prioritize technologies and practices for the NRCS and the dairy community.

Newtrient LLC was formed by 14 leading dairy organizations and represents nearly all US dairy farmers. Created to reduce the environmental footprint of dairy and make it economically viable to do so, Newtrient delivers innovative technology, manure-based product and market-driven solutions to create added value for farmers, communities and the environment.