Urban Agriculture Grant Projects
The National Association of Conservation District’s Urban Agriculture Conservation (UAC) Grant Initiative is designed to enhance a districts’ urban agriculture conservation technical assistance activities in developed and developing areas of both urban and rural communities. Since 2016, NACD and NRCS have awarded over 5 million dollars to 122 different projects throughout the country, including twice to the Marquette County Conservation District, in 2019 and 2022.
Find details about each of our awarded projects below.
Press Releases
- “Backyard Farming: Conservation District holds Urban Ag Workshop” – Mining Journal
- “Modern Farming” – Mining Journal
- “Marquette County Conservation District Offers Urban Ag Workshops”– Mining Journal
- “Conservation District Aims to Improve Urban Ag, Invasives Management” – Mining Journal
- “2019 Urban Agriculture Conservation Grant Recipients” – NACD
Urban Ag. Grant Implementation
Urban Agriculture Implementation Grant 2022
The National Association of Conservation Districts has awarded The Marquette County Conservation District a 2022 Urban Agriculture Implementation Grant to increase agricultural education and crop yield in Marquette and Alger Counties. The Marquette County Conservation District will be partnering with Alger Conservation District to:
- Host 4 public workshops on pollinator topics.
- Organize an educational field day for 5th grade students between both counties.
- Distribute 50 pollinator gardens to residents with existing food gardens.
- Develop materials for a teacher’s guide to promote pollinator education in the classroom
Teaching Guide: Pollination In Agriculture
Pairing Pollinators With Food Gardens In Marquette & Alger Counties
TEACHER’S GUIDE – Includes worksheets, games, activities, and additional resources. Pick and choose which materials are best for your classroom!
SLIDESHOWS – Download these pre-made slideshows to teach about pollinators in your classroom. Accompany them with the corresponding worksheets included in the Teacher’s Guide!
2022 Workshop Series
We Gave Away 50 Pollinator Gardens!
To increase crop yield in both counties we are distributing 50 pollinator gardens to landowners in the area! To qualify, you must have an existing food garden on your land. Landowners, schools, businesses, and other organizations with existing food gardens are welcome to apply! We will be prioritizing customers who have received an NRCS high tunnel kit in the past, and landowners willing to host future workshops!
The rubric to the right shows how we will be prioritizing applications received. The application period will run from June 1st-July 1st, and gardens will be awarded in time for a fall planting. Each garden will consist of one flat, 38 plants, selected for your yard and soil conditions, and a sign.
Winners have been selected
Recipients of our 50 pollinator gardens have been notified via email! If you were not selected and would like to see your rubric, please feel free to call or email us. We appreciate all who applied, and encourage everyone to continue their efforts toward increasing pollinator habitat!
Agripalooza 2022
Agripalooza, a farm field day for local 5th graders, was hosted on September 30th, 2022. Learn more here!
Urban Agriculture Implementation Grant 2019
In 2019, MCCD was awarded a National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) Urban Agriculture Conservation Grant to enhance urban agricultural activities in our community. With the funds, we hosted a series of four interactive workshops covering topics on season extenders, urban livestock and composting, invasive and native plants and pollinators, and mushroom cultivation.
New land use ordinances passed at that time in Marquette County allowed, for the first time, city residents to raise small livestock including bees, chickens, and rabbits, and allowed the construction of raised garden beds and season extension structures such as hoop houses. MCCD used this grant funding to support landowners looking to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the new ordinance.
MCCD is dedicated to providing education and technical support to increase the growing potential of Marquette County residents.
2019 Free Workshop Series
Throughout the 2019 growing season, MCCD offered a series of workshops that provided technical, hands-on assistance to city residents. Participants were given the opportunity to learn about:
- Backyard mushroom inoculation
- Seasonal extension for home gardens
- Residential small livestock keeping & safe and proper composting practices
- Identifying and eradicating invasive species & native gardening for pollinators
You can help shape the future of Urban Agriculture in Marquette County! Please let us know if there is a topic that you would like to learn more about. Stop by the office sometime and peruse our Urban Agriculture Resource binder. Take a look at the slideshow below to catch a glimpse of the 2019 workshops!
