North America Archives

Breakthroughs 2030: Developing and Implementing a New Strategy for Food and Agricultural Research

Year Awarded 2017

FFAR award amount $371,500

Total award amount $745,000

Location Arlington, VA

Matching Funders SoAR

Grantee Institution Supporters of Agriculture Research

The scientific community needed a food and agricultural research strategy to identity scientific opportunities for the next decade and beyond. National Academy of Sciences researchers identified the five most important initiatives that need to be addressed by food and agriculture research.

Consumer Understanding of Advances in Animal Welfare

Year Awarded 2017

FFAR award amount $50,000

Total award amount $100,000

Location West Lafayette, IN

Matching Funders Food Marketing Institute Foundation and the Animal Agriculture Alliance

Grantee Institution Purdue University

Consumers are demanding cage-free egg production and slow-growth broiler chickens and farmers, ranchers and agricultural businesses are responding. However, producers must first understand consumer knowledge, beliefs and willingness-to-pay for these attributes. Purdue University researchers are employing choice modeling techniques to estimate diversity in consumer preferences and willingness-to-pay for cage-free eggs and slow-growth broilers now and in the future.

Cover Crop Germplasm and Breeding in Support of New Cultivar Development Award Agreement

Year Awarded 2017

FFAR award amount $2,200,000

Total award amount $6,600,000

Location Admore, OK

Matching Funders Noble Foundation

Grantee Institution Noble Research Institute

Poor soil quality leads to an inadequate supply of nutrients, weeds and soil erosion. Cover crops can improve soil health. Noble Foundation researchers are identifying and using advanced breeding to introduce key traits that improve cover crop performance and improve soil health.

Crops in Silico 1.0

Year Awarded 2017

FFAR award amount $273,138

Total award amount $601,126

Location Urbana-Champaign, IL

Matching Funders The Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment at the University of Illinois, NCSA

Grantee Institution University of Illinois

Environments are changing faster than traditional crop breeding can develop new plant varieties. University of Illinois researchers are developing virtual plant models with the potential to address gaps between food supply and demand in the face of a changing climate. When fully realized, these models will give crop researchers a tool to examine the effects of environmental challenges on a molecular, cellular and organic level within a plant to accurately determine the best targets for genetic engineering.

An Open Source Framework and Community for Sharing Data and Algorithms

Year Awarded 2017

FFAR award amount $1,066,348

Total award amount $2,134,079

Location West Lafayette, IN

Matching Funders Winfield United, Centricity, AgGateway, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Purdue University

Grantee Institution Purdue University

Farmers gather data on millions of acres of active farmland, but much of that data is not integrated into decision-making tools to better manage the land. The industry is unable to take full advantage of the vast amounts of data available today. Purdue University researchers are converting agricultural data and algorithms into actionable tools for farmers. This project is translating this wealth of data into real-world applications in agriculture through a community-driven, open source framework.

An Open Source Plant Chemogenomics Set

Year Awarded 2017

FFAR award amount $1,000,000

Total award amount $2,320,000

Location Davis, CA

Matching Funders UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health, the Structural Genomics Consortium, AgBiome and Promega

Grantee Institution University of California Davis

Drought is a significant concern for farmers, especially rice growers. University of California, Davis researchers are studying genes responsible for drought tolerance in rice. The project is developing and implementing a screening strategy to identify new gene that effect root traits and drought tolerance in rice.

Assessing and Expanding Soil Health for Production, Economic and Environmental Benefits

Year Awarded 2017

FFAR award amount $9,942,268

Total award amount $21,051,546

Location Morrisville, NC

Matching Funders General Mills Foundation Walmart Foundation

Grantee Institution Soil Health Institute

Soil health is a critical component of productive agriculture systems, yet there is no standard soil health measurement in the U.S.. Instead, several sets of measurements and methods are used and they often conflict, confusing farmers and conservationists. Researchers are helping the industry adopt standardized measurements to evaluate and improve soil health, while expanding education and tools for farmers, agronomists and landowners.

Automated Individual Poultry Vaccination to Aid in Antibiotic Removal

Year Awarded 2017

FFAR award amount $800,000

Total award amount $1,600,292

Location Raleigh, NC

Matching Funders Merck Animal Health

Grantee Institution Applied LifeSciences & Systems (ALS-S)

Commercial hatcheries often spray vaccines on chicks to prevent disease. This method is imprecise and leaves about 5-20 percent of chicks vulnerable to disease. When disease breaks out, producers must then use antibiotics to treat secondary infections, which reduces overall productivity. By using imaging and robotics technology, Applied Lifesciences & Systems Poultry Inc. is developing a device for vaccinating newly hatched chickens, enhancing bird health, increasing poultry production and reducing the need for antibiotics.

A Novel Bioassay for Culturing and Characterizing Fastidious Phytopathogens

Year Awarded 2017

FFAR award amount $299,993

Total award amount $599,986

Location College Station, TX

Matching Funders Southern Garden Citrus

Grantee Institution Texas A&M AgriLife Research & Extension Center

Fastidious pathogens, bacteria that only grow in specific conditions, cause huge agricultural losses and cost farmers billions of dollars annually. Candidatus Liberibacter spp. are fastidious pathogens that cause the potato zebra chip and Citrus greening diseases. Complicating matters, these pathogens are will not grow in laboratory conditions, making it difficult to understand them. To support citrus growers and help other producers manage diseases, Texas A&M AgriLife Research & Extension Center researchers are testing a method of screening for disease resistance genes and chemicals that can combat the pathogens causing citrus greening and potato zebra chip diseases. The research will be translated into disease management strategies that help growers and prevent billions of dollars in annual losses.

A novel desiccant system enables energy-efficient drying to reduce postharvest loss of agricultural commodities and foods

Year Awarded 2017

FFAR award amount $790,407

Total award amount $1,580,814

Location Davis, CA

Matching Funders UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Grantee Institution University of California Davis

Moisture must be removed from agricultural products to preserve them for processing. Inadequately dried commodities account for about 60 percent of postharvest food loss worldwide. Insufficient drying can lead to fungi and negative health outcomes in animals and humans. Current drying methods are also highly energy intensive. University of California, Davis researchers are testing Drying Beads, which absorb water without heat. This technology could reduce energy usage by up to 50 percent and lower costs as the beads are reusable.