Global agricultural corporation Monsanto is making a $1.5 million contribution to Stoneville, Miss.-based Delta Wildlife, and the nonprofit conservation group is looking for 1,000 farmers or agricultural landowners from Vicksburg to Memphis to benefit from the donation and improve their properties.

“We’re targeting agricultural land, and the ultimate goal is to reduce sediment and nutrient runoff into the Mississippi River,” said Delta Wildlife Executive Director Trey Cooke. “There’s a lot of different Best Management Practices we’ll be focused on implementing through this project.”

The most common practice used in the Delta region to reduce nutrient runoff, said Cooke, is what farmers often refer to as pipe culverts. The steel pipes are installed along runoff areas, slowing the water travel and allowing less sediment to be carried to the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

“Phosphorus is a naturally occurring nutrient in Delta soil, so we can reduce a large amount of our nutrient runoff by simply stopping the soil from entering water streams,” Cooke explained.

Other runoff prevention practices Delta Wildlife will use with the Monsanto money include wetlands treatments, vegetation buffers and other water control structures. Participating landowners will not have to pay for any of the infrastructure or installation. However, Cooke said, they will be required to maintain the infrastructure and surrounding property.

“Within 60 days we should be ready to meet with interested farmers and landowners to see how we can install some Best Management Practices at their properties,” said Cooke.

While Delta Wildlife has been working with agricultural landowners in the Delta for years to reduce nutrient runoff — which is believed to cause erosion in estuaries and reduce the quality of wildlife habitats — Cooke said the organization has never received a public or private donation as large as the one from Monsanto to assist its conservation and restoration efforts.

“We have had some tremendously successful programs in place for the past 18 years, but they’ve all been limited in scope and funding,” he said, noting the organization has been limited to spending roughly $100,000 per year to reduce nutrient runoff. “This will allow us to work with every single landowner from Memphis to Vicksburg.”

Monsanto executives announced Monday a $5.2 million, no-strings-attached contribution to four agriculture and conservation groups including Delta Wildlife along the Mississippi River basin, with The Nature Conservancy receiving $3 million, the Iowa Soybean Association receiving $400,000 and The National Audubon Society benefiting by $300,000. The St. Louis-based Monsanto — which has five facilities in the Mississippi Delta — is making the donation in cooperation with an initiative it announced this summer to double corn, cotton and soybean yields by 2030 while reducing nutrient runoff in the process.

“We’re committed to helping farmers meet our nation’s growing needs for food, fuel and fibers, but we also feel we can help them support a healthy and diverse wildlife habitat,” said Jerry Steiner, Monsanto executive vice president. 

While the Yazoo Basin contributes less than 5 percent of the total nitrogen and phosphorus reaching the Mississippi River, the watershed is still ranked among the top 10 contributers of nutrients among all Mississipppi River watersheds.

Bruce Reid, Audubon director of conservation outreach for Audubon Mississippi River initiative in Vicksburg, said he did not know if the Vicksburg office would receive any of the Monsanto contribution. Regardless, he said, the Vicksburg office — which opened a retail store Tuesday — will be promoting ways homeowners can reduce runoff in their backyards concurrent with the National Audubon Society’s plans for the Monsanto money.

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com.