Conservation districts and other organizations have until April 3 to apply to participate in program offering grant funding to agricultural producers who introduce or expand soil health practices.

Funding for the STAR Plus program comes from the  Climate Smart Commodities grant the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded to the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA).

“Over the past several decades we’ve learned how cropping methods like no-till crop rotation can strengthen crop resilience against extreme weather fluctuations and prolonged drought. CDA is expanding the STAR Plus soil health program by providing grants to conservation districts and other organizations working to increase the use of soil health practices across the state,” said Cindy Lair, program director for the Colorado State Conservation Board and the lead of the Colorado soil health program. “Colorado has a robust legacy of soil conservation and soil stewardship, and the STAR program has been farmer- and rancher-led from the beginning. The new funding from USDA’s Climate Smart Commodities grant will help Colorado more than double participation in Colorado’s STAR program and scale it up to a national level.”

The Colorado STAR and STAR Plus programs together make up the Colorado soil health program. A total of more than 120 producers are enrolled in the STAR Plus program through 16 conservation districts and three other eligible entities. Eligible entities include non-profit or cooperative organizations, tribes, grower associations and research institutions.

CDA will award grants to additional conservation districts and eligible entities to work with farmers and ranchers to implement healthy soil practices. Entities currently administering the program can apply to support additional producers by filling out the application for existing entities.

Conservation districts and eligible entities act as local experts and grant administrators.

A total of $2.5 million is available for capacity grants and another $5.1 million is available for incentive payments to producers enrolled in the STAR Plus program.

Organizations should submit applications by email to cda_soil@state.co.us.

The second of two informational webinars about the program is scheduled for 1 p.m. March 9.

Additional information also is available from the CDA website located at https://ag.colorado.gov/conservation/soil-health/expanding-star-across-the-west.