The Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) is pleased to announce the Agriculture, Soil Health, and Water Efficiency Innovation Pilot Program. A total of $1.8M will be available to agricultural landowners, beneficial owners of trust land, lessees of agricultural land, or irrigation districts. The purpose of this funding is to support the implementation and collection of data for water-focused soil health innovations in agriculture.

The improvement of soil health can lead to increased water use efficiency without requiring new irrigation infrastructure or nonnative soil amendments. By documenting and reporting on the measurable water savings and efficiency gains, the program helps secure Arizona's water supply and manage its natural resources by making agricultural water use more sustainable and resilient to the effects of drought. The duration of the grant program will be a 2-year implementation period.

"With all the challenges that agriculture faces, I couldn't be more pleased to offer this new soil health program to Arizona's agricultural producers," said Paul Brierley, Director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture. "By allowing our farmers and ranchers to try novel methods of building soil health in order to become more water-efficient, we help them show the world how to sustainably farm in the desert. Investing in soil health will benefit all Arizonans and the future of farming in the State of Arizona."

Soil health is an important component in agriculture. Maintaining a healthy soil provides the land with nutrients to produce the food we eat, sequesters carbon dioxide to feed carbon to the roots, which then releases oxygen into the atmosphere for the air we breathe, and most importantly, absorbs and retains water, resulting in water savings, increased water infiltration rate, reduced soil erosion, and ponding.

The Arizona Department of Agriculture anticipates that grant monies will be available to successful applicants by late 2025. AZDA may place a per-applicant cap on grant awards.

Completed application packets are due no later than 11:59:59 p.m. (MST), Tuesday, November 25, 2025. For more information and to submit your application, please visit Euna Grants - Grants Network