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Crops of the Future Collaborative

Crops of the Future, a public-private collaborative, expands knowledge of traits that give rise to characteristics crops need to adapt to a changing future.

Generating Production Systems Solutions
Crops of the Future, a public-private collaborative, expands knowledge of traits that give rise to characteristics crops need to adapt to a changing future.

Generating Production Systems Solutions

Program Contact

Dr. Kathy Munkvold
kmunkvold@foundationfar.org

Partnerships & Development Contact

Lauren Hershey
lhershey@foundationfar.org

Keeping Farmers Competitive

Keeping farmers competitive and profitable requires developing products at an unprecedented pace. Yet, research and development can be financially risky. With industry consolidation, companies are facing greater investment in commercialization over research. This trend makes it challenging and expensive for companies to maintain cost-competitive research programs independently.

However, participation in research consortia allows companies to address these issues effectively. Crops of the Future Collaborative participants collectively explore multiple areas of research based on a common need while minimizing risk before pursuing the research internally. We established this Collaborative to address significant research gaps common across the industry.

The Collaborative develops crops with genes and traits that allow them to thrive despite pests, pathogens and extreme weather. Additionally, the research focuses on increasing crop variety and developing crops with higher nutritional content.

We provided Crops of the Future an initial $10 million investment, which the Collaborative participants matched for a total investment of $20 million to further crop science. Collaborative participants jointly define the research issues, pool resources and knowledge and use the research outcomes to compete in the marketplace.

Crops of the Future Collaborative Vision

The Crops of the Future Collaborative accelerates our ability to develop the crops that benefit humanity now and in the future by increasing our understanding of the relationship between traits, genes and the environment.

Crops of the Future Participants

Crops of the Future convenes companies and global research organizations working to develop crop varieties that address food and agriculture challenges. Collaborative participants represent many aspects of the agriculture industry, including seed companies, technology companies and other stakeholders from the value chain.

We welcome new participants interested in pooling resources to develop a common vision to address agriculture’s big challenges. The participants include BASF, Bayer, Bejo Zaden, CIMMYT, Corteva Agriscience, Cotton Incorporated, E. & J. Gallo Winery, Enza Zaden, Gates Agricultural Innovations, Gautier Semences, Inari, KeyGene, KWS, MARS, Rijk Zwaan, Sakata Seed, Syngenta, Takii Seed, Tanimura and Antle, United Soybean Board and Vilmorin S.A.
Bejo logo.
CIMMYT logo.
Enza Zaden logo.
GAUTIER SEMENCES logo.
Key Gene logo.
KWS logo.
Rijk Zwaan logo.
SAKATA logo.
Syngenta logo.
TAKII Seed logo.
Tanimura logo.
Vilmorin Mikado logo.

Awarded Grants for the Crops of the Future Collaborative

Circular Economy That Reimagines Corn Agriculture

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $4,500,000

Total award amount   $9,000,000

Location   Beltsville, MD

Matching Funders   Bayer, Corteva, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, GoogleX, KWS, Limagrain Field Seeds

Grantee Institution   USDA Agricultural Research Service

Grant Improves Stress Tolerance in Carrots

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $500,000

Total award amount   $1,000,000

Location   Davis, CA

Matching Funders   Bayer, Bejo Zaden, Enza Zaden, Rijk Zwaan, Takii Seed Vilmorin Mikado

Grantee Institution   University of California, Davis

Improving Protein Content & Quality in Peas

Year Awarded  2021

FFAR award amount   $612,257

Total award amount   $800,000

Location   St. Paul, MN

Program   Plant Protein Enhancement Project

Matching Funders   Benson Hill, Keygene, Syngenta, University of Minnesota

Grantee Institution   University of Minnesota

See all Awarded Grants

The Latest

Insights

Our Insights highlight unique perspectives from across the food and agriculture community.

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H5N1 Risk to Swine Research Program 

Drs. Jasmine Bruno & Megan Niederwerder

The Aim For Healthy, Productive & Environmentally Friendly, Southeastern Beef Calves 

Federico Tarnonsky

FFAR Fellow (2022-2025), University of Florida

Time Teaches Biosecurity Importance 

Kevin Schulz

Kevin Schulz

Editor, The Farmer/Farm Progress

Greener Cattle Initiative is Game Changer for Dairy’s Future 

Dr. Juan Tricarico

Dr. Juan Tricarico

Senior Vice President, Environmental Research, Dairy Management Inc.

Reducing Enteric Methane Emissions from Dairy Cattle 

Francisco Penagaricano headshot

Dr. Francisco Peñagaricano and Dr. Guillermo Martinez Boggio

Let’s Raise a Glass on National Milk Day to the Power of Agriculture Research 

Krysta Harden headshot

Krysta Harden

President and CEO U.S. Dairy Export Council

Building Team Chemistry: The Bigger Picture Behind Cows & Climate 

Conor McCabe headshot

Conor McCabe

Animal Biology Graduate Student, UC Davis

Insight on Livestock Methane Mitigation 

Dr. Rod Mackie

Dr. Rod Mackie, Professor, Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 

Champaign, IL

Indigenous Farmers are Leading a “New Green Revolution” Focused on Hemp 

James DeDecker, Director, Michigan State University – Upper Peninsula Research and Extension Center Mary Donner, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians – Ziibimijwang Farm Executive Director and Tribal Citizen

FFAR Vet Student Fellow Research Spotlight 

Agricultural study in progress.

Anna Schaubeck

2021 FFAR Veterinary Student Research Fellow

Celebrating Innovation on National Egg Day 

Paul Montgomery

Paul Montgomery

Director of Communications, United Egg Producers

Going Nuts: Nut Crops as Climate Resilient Protein Alternatives for the Future 

Matt Davis

University of California, Davis

How Heat Stress Impacts Swine Health 

Portrait of Lauren Anderson.

FFAR Fellow, Lauren Anderson

North Carolina State University

Building Tools for Plant Genome Editing 

Portrait of Simon Sretenovic.

FFAR Fellow, Simon Sretenovic

University of Maryland, College Park

Tackling Malnutrition with Biofortification 

Portrait of Aicha Waziri.

Aichatou Djibo Waziri

Washington State University

Wheat: already delicious and now nutritious 

Portrait of Addy Carroll.

Addison Carroll

FFAR Fellow

Dusting the Soil for Fungus-Prints: Spinach Seed Production and One of its Greatest Threats 

Portrait of Batson.

Alex Batson

Washington State University

A day on the Battlefield: Searching for Perennial defenses in wild places 

Portrait of Kelsey Peterson.

Kelsey Peterson

2019-2022 FFAR Fellow

Heavy Metal and Chocolate: Not the Best Pairing   

Portrait of Zachary Dashner.

Zachary Dashner

2018-2021 FFAR Fellow

News

The latest news and updates from FFAR.

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FFAR Rapid Research Builds Diagnostic Tools & Vaccine for Avian Metapneumovirus 

FFAR Research to Protect Vegetable Crops from Invasive Pest 

FFAR Rapid Research Develops H5N1 Waste Stream Surveillance Tool 

FFAR & AAVMC Open Applications for 2025 FFAR Vet Fellows 

FFAR Grant Seeks to Decrease Corn Inputs, Increases Climate Resiliency 

Seeding Solutions Grant Helps Develop Corn Resistant to Fungal Disease 

SHIC/FFAR Fund Six Japanese Encephalitis Virus Research Projects 

Grant Improves Hemp Fiber Processing & Quality 

FFAR Research Addresses On-Farm Bird Flu Outbreaks Linked to Wild Waterfowl 

SHIC, FFAR & Pork Checkoff Announce H5N1 Risk to Swine Research Program & RFP 

ROAR Funding Protects Strawberries from Dangerous Pathogen 

FFAR Aims to Help Farmers Manage Manure More Sustainably & Profitably 

Hemp Research Consortium Grant Examines Biopesticides for Hemp Treatment 

Seeding Solutions Grant Developing Tomato Resistance to Parasitic Weed 

Crops of the Future Grant Improves Stress Tolerance in Carrots 

ICASA Award Addresses Antimicrobial Stewardship for Bovine Respiratory Disease 

Swine Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program Funds Additional Research 

FFAR Names Sixth Cohort of Veterinary Fellows 

U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef & FFAR Announce Focus Group Series to Develop Sustainable Beef Research Roadmap 

FFAR-Funded Research to Prevent African Swine Fever Virus 

Breakthroughs

Tools, technologies and strategies from the research we fund.

See all Breakthroughs

Unlocking Genetic Heat Tolerance in Cattle 

Breakthrough for Precision Bred Adaptation of Elite Taurine Breeds of Beef & Dairy Cattle

Accelerating Crop Development with Improved Haploid Fertility 

Breakthrough for Accelerated Development of Crops of the Future

Radiography could transform poultry breeding 

Breakthrough for 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

Research Pinpoints Why Dairy Cows Produce Less Milk in Warm Weather and Develops Nutrition-Based Solution 

Breakthrough for FFAR Grant Helps Heat-Stressed Dairy Cows Weather Increasing Temperatures

Getting to the Root of the Problem: Fastidious Pathogens 

Breakthrough for A Novel Bioassay for Culturing and Characterizing Fastidious Phytopathogens

Feed Additives Stop Viral Disease Spread, Researchers Find 

Breakthrough for FFAR-Funded Research Finds Feed Additives Stop the Spread of Viral Diseases

Initial Successes in Ending Surgical Castration of Swine 

Breakthrough for FFAR Awards $500,000 Grant to Improve Swine Health and Well-Being