A $180,000 three-year grant from USDA has been awarded to the URI Cooperative Extension Water Quality and 4-H programs to create an education program that will address small acreage livestock pollution issues.

The grant, scheduled to start in September, will provide for a train-the-trainer program for 4-H volunteers and others who have livestock on small land areas.

Holly Burdett, a URI research associate and a principal investigator, said the program will focus on training people to train others on best management practices (BMPs) that can be employed on small acreage sites. She noted that the intent of the program is to focus on properties that are 10 acres or less which do not normally qualify for special USDA assistance grants.

Many youngsters in the 4-H program own livestock and if best management practices are not followed wastes from those animals can pose a risk to water resources.

The idea will be to train adult volunteer leaders (and possibly some older 4-H youths) in BMPs who then can present the information to club members, at fairs and even give presentations to large groups.

The first year of the grant will be used to do a needs assessment. There will be focus groups and some of the materials from the now-defunct Healthy Landscapes program will be used. Healthy Landscapes was based in North Kingstown and its purpose was to provide education to the public on how to reduce water usage and protect water resources by employing certain techniques on home landscapes.

In the second year of the new grant, materials will be designed and training will begin. The third year will be spent

with working with the trained volunteers in the field.

Also involved in the program are Alyson McCann, also a URI research associate, Marcia Morreira, who heads up the Cooperative Extension: Children, Youth and Families section which includes the state 4-H program and Fred Launer, an adjunct in animal science, who will address animal health issues.

The official title of the program is "Livestock on Small Acreages: Protecting Water Resources and Health."

Small acreage livestock owners are "often ineligible for traditional agricultural assistance programs," notes Burdett, "and their behaviors and decisions are often shaped by issues and concerns that are significantly different from those of commercial farmers."

In addition to getting people to follow best management practices with livestock wastes, the program should also increase local and regional partnerships, provide educational resources and enhance training opportunities within the state 4-H program, she added.