U of I awarded ag-related grant

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in January that it will be awarding 26 grants for research, education and Extension efforts on water-related issues in communities nationwide.

The grants, totaling $13.4 million, are funded by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The University of Illinois received $594,000, from the 17 grants offered to support integrated research to improve the quality of the nation’s surface and groundwater resources in agricultural, rural and urbanizing watersheds.

There also were nine research grants released to address critical water resource issues, including drought preparedness and water reuse in agriculture.