CAFO Improvement Grant Available for Idaho Producers
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has partnered with the Idaho State Department of Agriculture and the agriculture industry to offer grants for dairies, feedlots and other concentrated animal feeding operations through a new program that pays for improvements.
Prompted by House Bill 559, this new program received $5 million for the CAFO Improvement Fund from the state general fund, which comes from income and sales tax. Funds will help propel environmental projects that improve management of livestock byproducts, waste, nutrients and water.
Rick Naerebout, chief executive officer of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association, says these grant dollars stemmed from an industry effort that helped put the legislation together.
“This is an industry-centered program to help CAFO operators to make incremental improvements on the farm level,” he says. “We tried to utilize some of our tax surplus money from previous years and reinvest it into our Idaho rural communities.”
Naerebout says that the CAFO Improvement Fund dollars will go quickly, as he anticipates a lot of interest from Idaho producers.
“Based on the interest, I think we are going to have more applications than funds, which proves it is a good program and shows overall interest,” he says. “Our goal is to go back to legislators and show how the dollars helped at the farm level and work for additional funding for the future.”
A successful CAFO grant must meet the following criteria:
- A minimum of 40% of the total project costs must come from sources other than the CAFO Improvement Fund.
- Projects must start within one year of the award and be completed within 3 years.
- Producers must have an approved and current Environmental/Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) in accordance with state regulations and must comply, as demonstrated by the most recent NMP review.
- Demonstrate how project/equipment/practice will be maintained over time.
- The project must be implemented within the CAFO management area.
- Applicants with more than one CAFO may submit separate applications for multiple facilities, but awards will be capped at $1 million per owner/partnership.
- Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
The department will be accepting grant applications through Aug. 31. The application and guidelines are available on IDEQ’s website at www.deq.idaho.gov. A webinar will be hosted on July 19, 2022, at 1 p.m. MT to discuss the application requirements/process and to help answer any questions.
For more information, contact Mary Anne Nelson, Surface and Wastewater Division administrator, 208-373-0291 or mary.anne.nelson@deq.idaho.gov.
