BILLINGS, MONTANA – April 20, 2023 – Enriched Ag, a company dedicated to providing data-driven insights to inform ranching management decisions, is pleased to announce its selection for a 2022 Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA NRCS). Enriched Ag was one of 31 grant recipients receiving funding that totaled $40 million for all projects. The CIG program is one of the ways the USDA brings together partners to develop innovative approaches to climate-smart agriculture.

Enriched Ag is partnering with U.S. tribal ranches on this grant project titled, “An Artificial Intelligence Drought Planner: Producer Tools to Plan for Drought, Predict Forage Production and Reduce Soil Carbon Loss in Beef Cattle Production Systems.” The project brings drought, forage and precipitation forecasting data together with ranch-specific forage measurement and modeling to help beef cattle producers on U.S. tribal ranches manage drought while maintaining conservation and operational goals through sound regenerative grazing strategies. The investment from USDA in this 3-year project is $584,132.

Up to 250,000 acres and approximately 100 ranchers will be positively impacted as a result of this project in tribal areas of South Dakota, North Dakota, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.

“The team at Enriched Ag looks forward to working more closely with Native American beef cattle producers and giving them useful digital tools to meet their conservation and profitability goals,” said Mike Komp, director of business development at Enriched Ag. “These data-rich tools will help them assess drought risk and adjust stocking rates accordingly. We will track how they engage with the data and gather feedback to continually improve the resource to serve their needs.”

Delane Atcitty is an Enriched Ag board member, serves as the executive director at Indian Nations Conservation Alliance (INCA), a partner in this grant project. Atcitty is also a board member for the Society for Range Management as well as the National Grazing Lands Coalition. He said using Enriched Ag’s insights through this grant work will lead to more effective and productive use of tribal resources.

“With strategic use, we can reduce our hay dependency and build flexibility in our ranching business model,” Atcitty said of the Native American ranchers using the technology. “With use in time, this will lead to healthier ecosystems and a better quality of life for us.”

Billy Cook, Enriched Ag’s VP of producer relations, said the project is possible through the collaboration with INCA, which will assist in getting ranchers to participate, understanding how the tools and data are being used, and uncovering any necessary modifications through producer surveys.

“Enriched Ag has the technical expertise to develop and improve this stocking management tool, but at the heart of this project is the strong relationships we are developing with our network of tribal producers,” Cook said. “We are thankful to the USDA for the grant funding and to INCA for assistance in engaging with producers to ensure success, value and adoption of our insights.”

Currently, Enriched Ag offers a free grazing and carbon insights tool on its website, and is testing a premium insights tool through an early adopter program, with plans to publicly launch the premium tool in Summer 2023. The premium offering intends to help ranchers easily make informed management decisions based on:

• • Projected forage production and grazing days per paddock

• • Paddock-level rest and optimal recovery

• • Localized forage production and rainfall deviation

• • Customized alerts

• • Herd tracking

• • Grazing multiple hers and species

• • Outcome validation and reporting for your needs

About 30 early adopters are currently testing the premium insights tool. If you are interested in participating, reach out to Enriched Ag online or by calling 406-318-9631.

More information about the CIG fiscal year 2022 awards can be found on the USDA website. To learn more about Enriched Ag and get started with the free tool available now.

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Building Wealth on the World’s Ranches

Enriched Ag is on a mission to unlock the environmental and socioeconomic value of grazing lands. We believe that by making it easier for ranchers to adopt and monitor management practices that support productivity, soil health, and ranch profitability, we can also enable them to meet requirements to monetize carbon sequestered in their land.

Backed by Radical Ventures and Future Ventures, we are a team of seasoned entrepreneurs and experts who have worked at organizations such as Carnegie Mellon University, Google, Intel, Yahoo, and The Noble Foundation.

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Press Contact: Katie Wagner, Director of Communications
katie@enriched.ag

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