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The Impact of Nutrition and Metabolic Capacity on Honeybee Health 

Year Awarded  2018

FFAR award amount   $488,130

Total award amount   $977,072

Location   Fort Collins, CO

Program   Pollinator Health Fund

Matching Funders   Deryn Davidson (Boulder County Extension), Greg Butters, Colorado Professional Beekeeping Association, Western Colorado Honey, Bob Todd, Greg Bowdish, Colorado State University

Grantee Institution   Colarado State University

Colorado State University researchers are studying the impact of phytochemicals, nutritional diversity and metabolic capacity on honeybee health. This project is developing nutritive plant species mixes for pollinator habitats and dietary supplements to sustain healthy honey bee colonies.

A Pipeline for Streamlined Development and Testing of Novel Controls for the Honey Bee Parasitic Mite Varroa Destructor 

Year Awarded  2018

FFAR award amount   $475,559

Total award amount   $1,138,711

Location   Beltsville, MD

Program   Pollinator Health Fund

Matching Funders   Michael De Jong, Auburn University, Blue Ridge Honey Co., Geezer Ridge Farm, Project Apis, University of Georgia, Universitat de Valencia, Board of Regents for the University of Nebraska Department of Entomology

Grantee Institution   USDA-ARS

Varroa mite is a parasite that attacks honey bees, damages colonies and has become resistant to many commercially available chemical control agents. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service researchers are identifying and testing new ways to control varroa mites.

Bioindicators for A Sustainable Future: Dancing Honey Bees Communicate Habitats’ Ability to Feed Pollinators 

Year Awarded  2018

FFAR award amount   $614,067

Total award amount   $1,228,134

Location   Blacksburg, VA

Program   Pollinator Health Fund

Matching Funders   Virginia Tech

Grantee Institution   Virginia Tech

To protect honeybees, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University researchers are examining pollinator behavior in different landscapes to determine where and when supplemental forage is most needed to nourish pollinator populations. The research team is also exploring whether honey bee recruitment behavior, which is how a worker tells her nestmates where she collected food, is a reliable indicator of a viable habitat for native pollinators.

FFAR Awards $1.4 Million to Purdue University, University of California, Davis and University of Edinburgh Researchers to Improve Health and Productivity of Egg-Laying Hens 

FFAR Awards Emergency Funds to Kansas Wheat Commission Research Foundation and Kansas State University Researchers to Protect Wheat Yields in Kansas 

FFAR Awards $2.7 Million to Create Fellowship Program to Foster the Next Generation of Food and Agricultural Scientists 

Rodolphe Barrangou Awarded the 2018 NAS Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences 

Stopping A New Threat to The Lettuce Industry in Florida: Fusarium Wilt 

Year Awarded  2018

FFAR award amount   $67,892

Total award amount   $135,806

Location   Gainesville, FL

Program   Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research

Matching Funders   University of Florida

Grantee Institution   University of Florida

Fusarium Wilt is a fungus that threatens the $70 million Floridian lettuce industry. University of Florida researchers are developing disease management practices and training lettuce growers to better manage cross contamination to reduce the spread of this disease.

Improving Dairy Feed Efficiency, Sustainability and Profitability by Impacting Farmer’s Breeding and Culling Decisions 

Year Awarded  2018

FFAR award amount   $1,000,000

Total award amount   $1,999,999

Location   East Lansing, MI

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding

Grantee Institution   Michigan State University

Feeding dairy cows accounts for more than half of total dairy farm costs. Dairy farmers could significantly reduce feed costs by selecting cows that produce the same or more milk while consuming less feed. Michigan State University researchers are monitoring dairy cows’ body temperature, feeding behavior and locomotion, along with milk spectral data, to predict feed intake and gather data from thousands of cows to allow farmers to select the most efficient cows.

Value-Added and Nutritionally Superior Extruded Foods from Agricultural Waste Streams 

Year Awarded  2018

FFAR award amount   $539,962

Total award amount   $1,080,767

Location   Ithaca, NY

Matching Funders   New York Apple Association, Cornell University

Grantee Institution   Cornell University

Much of fruit and vegetable skins, seeds, cores and stems left behind after food processing becomes a form of agricultural waste known as pomace, which has limited utility and harms the environment. Cornell University researchers are developing a technology to convert this waste into snack foods.