The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), pronounced /fɑr/, builds unique public-private partnerships to support innovative science addressing today’s food and agriculture challenges.
FFAR’s work seeks to provide every person access to affordable, nutritious food grown on thriving farms.
We match every federal dollar with private funding, delivering a powerful return on taxpayer investment. The funding supports bold, innovative grants to fill critical knowledge gaps and advance science. Our work improves the food and agriculture system and provides a better quality of life for Americans and people around the globe.
SMART Broiler Research Initiative
FFAR and McDonald’s Corporation have teamed up to offer $4 million to the group or individual who successfully develops and commercializes an automated monitoring tool that quantitatively assess key animal welfare indicators in broiler chickens.
Egg-Tech Prize
FFAR is offering up to $6 million in prizes to the firm, group or individual who successfully develops a technology that can accurately and rapidly determine the sex of layer chicks before they hatch. Billions of layer chicks are hatched each year to supply the world’s eggs, with demand expected to rise in coming years. Male chicks are culled on the day of hatch, as they cannot lay eggs and are unsuitable for consumption. The Egg-Tech Prize RFA includes more information about this opportunity.
Egg-Tech Prize
READ MOREFFAR is offering up to $6 million in prizes to the firm, group or individual who successfully develops a technology that can accurately and rapidly determine the sex of layer chicks before they hatch. Billions of layer chicks are hatched each year to supply the world’s eggs, with demand expected to rise in coming years. Male chicks are culled on the day of hatch, as they cannot lay eggs and are unsuitable for consumption. The Egg-Tech Prize RFA includes more information about this opportunity.
FFAR’s six Challenge Areas aim to solve large-scale food and agriculture problems, while understanding broad implications and impacts.
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Soil Health
Sustainable Water Management
Next Generation Crops
Advanced Animal Systems
Urban Food System
Health Agriculture Nexus
The Soil Health Challenge Area enriches soil by building knowledge, fueling innovation and enabling the adoption of improved soil management.
CONTINUE READINGThe Sustainable Water Management Challenge Area increases water availability and water efficiency for agricultural use, reduces agricultural water pollution and develops water reuse technologies.
CONTINUE READINGThe Next Generation Crops Challenge Area develops non-traditional crops and creates new economic opportunities for conventional crops that will increase future crop diversity and farm profitability.
CONTINUE READINGThe Advanced Animal Systems Challenge Area supports sustainable animal systems through innovative technologies, environmentally sound production practices and advancements in animal health and welfare.
CONTINUE READINGThe Urban Food Systems Challenge Area enhances our ability to feed populations through urban and peri-urban agriculture, bringing local food to these venues.
CONTINUE READINGThe Health-Agriculture Nexus Challenge Area supports innovative, systems-level approaches that reduce food and nutritional insecurity and improve human health in the United States and around the globe.
CONTINUE READINGKeeping US agriculture competitive and profitable for producers requires developing research, technology, and products at an unprecedented pace.
Yet, research and development can be financially risky. FFAR establishes consortia that pools resources and knowledge to conduct research. The results are distributed to the consortium participants for use by their individual institutions. Ultimately, the consortium model allows participants to collectively explore multiple areas of research based upon common need, while minimizing risk and costs.
The International Consortium for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Agriculture (ICASA) is a public-private partnership created by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) to advance research on antimicrobial stewardship in animal agriculture. ICASA’s research promotes the judicious use of antibiotics, advances animal health and welfare, and increases transparency in food production practices.
The Crops of the Future Collaborative is a public-private, multi-participant consortium convened by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research to accelerate global efforts to develop crops needed to meet food system challenges 20-50 years from now.
The Irrigation Innovation Consortium (IIC) is a joint initiative between private, public, and university organizations, addressing growing water scarcity in the western U.S. and worldwide.
The Precision Indoor Plants (PIP) Collaborative is a global multi-participant pre-competitive consortium formed by FFARto accelerate advances in scienceand technology that increase our abilityto produce flavorful and nutritiouscrops indoors.
WASHINGTON and EAST LANSING (May 21 2019) – Feeding the 9 million US dairy cows requires millions of acres of crops and accounts for more than half of total dairy farm costs. The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) awarded Michigan State University a $1 million grant to improve dairy cow feed efficiency, which […]
CHAMPAIGN (May 16, 2019) — An international team is using advanced tools to develop crops that give farmers more options for sustainably producing more food on less land. To do this, thousands of plant prototypes must be carefully analyzed to figure out which genetic tweaks work best. Today, in a special issue of the journal […]
SANTA CRUZ and WASHINGTON (May 14, 2019) – There is a lack of university research on organic legume production and organic variety development, according to the USA Dry Pea Council. The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) and the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) aim to increase research funding for organic legume production. FFAR […]
