Awarded Grants
Below is a listing of our awarded grants that tackle big food and agriculture challenges.

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55 Grants found

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Scaling Quantified and Verified Soil Health, Climate and Natural Resources Outcomes from U.S. Agriculture in an Innovative Ecosystem Services Market Program

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $5,150,000

Total award amount   $10,300,000

Location   Falls Church, VA 

Matching Funders   Ecosystem Services Market Consortium

Grantee Institution   Ecosystem Services Market Consortium

The agriculture sector contributes about 11% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, which impacts climate change. FFAR invested in the Ecosystem Services Market Research Consortium for research that creates sound social, economic and environmental outcomes to benefit producers, local communities, supply chain companies and consumers through the expansion of Eco-Harvest, an ecosystem services market program.

Protecting Florida Corn from Tar Spot Outbreak

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $120,509

Total award amount   $241,537

Location   Gainesville, FL

Matching Funders   University of Florida

Tar spot is a rapidly spreading fungal disease caused primarily by Phyllachora maydis, a plant pathogen that infects corn and damages leaves. Tar spot reduces corn grain yield and overall crop quality and could become a severe epidemic on sweet corn. University of Florida researchers are identifying management strategies by developing an effective chemical control program and analyzing sweet corn hybrids that are resistant to tar spot. The research team is examining the genetic diversity of tar spot samples from Florida and comparing to those from the Midwest.

A Deeper Dive: Linking Below-Ground Soil & Water Quality with Above-Ground Productivity in Organic Systems to Enhance Economic Viability & Ecosystem Resiliency

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $195,124

Location   Ames, IA

Matching Funders   The Organic Center

Grantee Institution   Iowa State University

Dr. Kathleen Delate is quantifying the optimal combinations of soil, greenhouse gas emissions and economic modeling for ecosystem health. She is comparing agricultural system management, manure management and alternative cropping systems. Delate plans to share her results with the farming community to encourage farmer participation in data collection and practice adoption. She is also training multi-cultural farmers on the identified practices to spur adoption of her research recommendations.

Investigating the re-integration of organic food crops & animal production on above & belowground diversity, soil health, farm resilience & food safety.

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $199,256

Location   West Lafayette, IN

Matching Funders   The Organic Center

Grantee Institution   Purdue University

Dr. Moriah Bilenky is investigating how integrated cropping systems on organic fields can reduce input costs and enhance biodiversity above and below ground. Specifically, Bilenky and her team are investigating the impacts of adding small ruminants to an integrated cropping system on soil health, microbiome health and presence of food pathogens on vegetable farms. The researchers aim to identify integrated cropping system best practices and plan to disseminate educational materials to increase adoption of these practices.

Rodale Institution

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $96,694

Location   Kutztown, PA

Matching Funders   The Organic Center

Grantee Institution   Rodale Institution

This Prize allows the Rodale Institute to expand its online educational portal to further reach and train farmers and agricultural professionals across the U.S. Specifically, the Institute is creating greater access to its online course “Transition to Certified Organic Agriculture” by translating it into Spanish, creating a scholarship program to provide free access to their online courses and expanding the types of courses offered.

Oregon Tilth

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $63,173

Location   Corvallis, OR

Matching Funders   The Organic Center

Grantee Institution   Oregon Tilth

This 2023 Prize allows Oregon Tilth to train additional farmers and agriculture professionals in organic certification, organic regulations, production practices and profitability tools. The Prize also funds convenings for organic certifiers that explore ways to streamline linkages between the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service support and the organic certification process. Lastly, the Prize supports the Know Your Cost to Grow program, an online curriculum and cost calculation app developed to help producers develop and utilize cost information.

Kalona Regenerative Network Producer Education Training Program

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $77,777

Location   Kalona, IA

Matching Funders   The Organic Center

Grantee Institution   Kalona Regenerative Network

Kalona Regenerative Network is educating farmers to use regenerative and organic farming methods to restore ecosystem health, grow more nutrient dense food and create profitable farms. With this Prize, KRN is offering organic certification in-house and implementing a pay-what-you-can and scholarship model for their Producer Education Program. The Prize also supports accessible education and guidance to help producers and consumers drive change within the U.S. food system.

A new methods of managing human waste for improved soil health, carbon sequestration, contaminant removal, and social acceptability

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $330,256

Total award amount   $660,517

Location   Brattelboro, VT

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   Cornell University, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, Rich Earth Institute, University of Michigan

Grantee Institution   Rich Earth Institute

Synthetic fertilizers accelerate crop growth and are commonly used in agriculture; however, these products contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, wastewater is also a source of pollution, and only a fraction of the vast quantity of nutrients flowing through modern wastewater treatment systems is captured for beneficial reuse. A significant portion of regional fertilizer needs could be met by reclaiming the nutrients present in wastewater. The Rich Earth Institute is producing biochar from wastewater material to potentially be used to develop safe, renewable fertilizers that enhance agricultural productivity, support soil health, reduce nutrient pollution and mitigate climate change through soil carbon sequestration.

Advancing DEI in Sharing Carbon & Ecosystems Services Information

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $100,000

Total award amount   $200,000

Location   Madison, WI

Matching Funders   American Society of Agronomy (ASA), the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) and the Soil Science Society of America

This investment is building inclusivity and accessibility into the Tri-Societies’ new educational website Decode 6. This free, educational website–named for carbon, the sixth element on the periodic table–provides resources in carbon and ecosystem services and their respective markets for the agricultural and environmental sectors.

Integration of Agroforestry as a Transformative Solution to Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Organic Farms

Year Awarded  2022

Total award amount   $200,000

Location   Knoxville, TN

Matching Funders   The Organic Center

The 2022 Organic Center-FFAR joint Organic Research Program awardee, Dr. Sindhu Jagadamma, is investigating how growing trees on organic farms and transforming organic waste from those farms into high-value compost naturally and cost-effectively mitigates climate change and reduces the carbon footprint of organic farms. She will conduct the study at Caney Fork Farms, a Tennessee certified organic farm, and develop and disseminate educational materials to improve producers’ knowledge of these and other innovative farm management approaches to increase their adoption throughout the Southeast.