? Breaking News from an ARise-supported startup ?
?? Carbon Chicken Project, LLC awarded Prestigious USDA Grant for Carbon Negative Agriculture ??
City of Fayetteville, Arkansas -The USDA recently announced a $591,000 award to Arkansas-based innovation sustainable agriculture company Carbon Chicken Project, LLC?to fund a 5-year project to advance innovative GHG reducing carbon negative agricultural practices, technologies and approaches in NW Arkansas and SE Oklahoma.?The project is one of 53?awards funded this year in the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s?Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) which has been providing funding for conservation innovation programs for over two decades to address water quality, soil health, wildlife habitat, and support innovative on-farm climate-smart practices.
Partners in the?Carbon Negative Chicken Farming Project (CNCFP)?include Dr. Liz Haney and her team at?Soil Regen?and?Regen Ag Labs,?regenerative verification experts at Beyond Description Farm,?Love Just Works, and?Curva and Associates?and four local farmers, three of which are Hmong identified.
“We are grateful to the U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for this transformative investment by the USDA into the use of biochar and carbon negative agricultural innovation in our region,” said Jody Hardin, CEO of Carbon Chicken Project and Carbon Negative Chicken Farming Project Director. “This funding will increase farm income and resilience while also catalyzing significant private investments in the carbon negative farming industry to expand carbon sequestration, soil health, and biodiversity, and repair ecological damage within the Illinois River Watershed farming region.”
“This project is a game-changer for our community," said Toua Yang, a local Hmong farmer. "It provides real solutions to the poultry waste problem while helping us improve our soil and grow better crops.”
“The Carbon Negative Chicken Farming Project is not just innovative, it's essential," said Dr. William McCoy. "Carbon Chicken Project is creating a model for sustainable agriculture that can be replicated across the region and beyond.”
Media Contact: Jody Hardin, [email protected], 870-370-4047
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