By SEAN ELLIS

Capital Press

BOISE -- Six projects in Idaho that address natural resource loss on cropland have received funding through a Natural Resources Conservation Service technology transfer program.

One of the grant recipients, the University of Idaho, was awarded $21,934 through NRCS' Conservation Innovation Grant Program to test whether composting grape prunings instead of burning them can improve soil quality while reducing waste.

Mike Medes, owner of Rocky Fence Vineyard in Emmett, offered his vineyard as a test location for that on-farm trial, which will include three separate sites to test three different ways of composting the prunings along with dairy manure.

"Our priority in growing grapes is our soil quality and compost is a very important element of having a healthy soil," Medes said.

Medes said he has tons of cuttings from grape prunings every year and burning the material is an easy way to dispose of it. But he's interested in finding out if composting it instead could improve soil quality, reduce fertilizer costs and result in less air pollution.

The manure will be obtained from dairies free of charge.

"It (could) be an economical way of having a really good soil without wasting all those canes," he said. "Burning is an easy way to dispose of the prunings but grinding and composting the material will enrich the soil. If the soil is improved, the quality of my grapes improves."

The university also received a $74,705 grant to develop best management practices for applying insecticides on dry bulb onions. The idea is to use the BMPs to improve the effectiveness of insecticides while reducing their impacts in targeted watersheds.

Ida Gold Farms of Burley received a $29,325 grant that will help fund a biofuel production project in southern Idaho designed to show that oilseed crops can provide both a feed and biofuel crop without taking land out of food production.

A $6,497 grant awarded to Hamanishi Farms of Fruitland will be used to study whether cover crops can address nutrient needs and weed problems associated with conventional and organic mint production. The project will look at which annual legumes can suppress weeds enough to eliminate herbicide treatments.

Besides providing matching funds, grant recipients must describe what makes their project innovative, and Hamanishi farm manager Jon Fabricius said the grant process helped him think the project through, map it out and determine the benefits.

"That helped me commit to getting the project done," he said.

A $66,202 grant will be used to help develop best management practices for dairy operations using zeolite, a mineral used as an absorber to retain nitrogen in manure while reducing costs, ammonia and air emissions.

A project aimed at demonstrating that using sub-surface drip irrigation can be a reasonable alternative to surface or sprinkler systems for corn, alfalfa and grain crops received a $10,1237 grant.

Idaho NRCS State Conservationist Jeff Burwell said the innovation grant program is designed to demonstrate new techniques that can help solve natural resource problems.

"By funding these on-the-ground conservation projects, we hope to find creative solutions to common problems that producers can use," he said.

For more information on these projects and the grant program, visit the NRCS website at www.id.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig/projects_fy11.html .