Grants Archive

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

The Agricultural Nitrogen Use Efficiency Platform (AgNUE)

Year Awarded 2026

FFAR award amount $7,449,645

Total award amount $34,709,349

Location Raleigh, NC

Matching Funders Novo Nordisk Foundation

Grantee Institution North Carolin State University

By using the latest science and measurement technologies, AgNUE will improve understanding of how nitrogen is used by crops and what factors contribute to losses and inefficiencies. With this knowledge, AgNUE will provide farmers with increased access to site-specific data and tools to match fertilizer applications more precisely to crop needs.25-001984

Outcome-Based Identification of Best Agronomic Practices to Reduce N Footprint in Agroecosystems

Year Awarded 2025

FFAR award amount $100,000

Total award amount $200,000

Location Lincoln, NE

Matching Funders University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Grantee Institution University of Nebraska-Lincoln

University of Nebraska researchers are identifying suites of management practices with greatest capacity to deliver high yields with reduced N environmental footprint based on long-term yield and environmental performance via analysis of farmer field-level databases.

Kernza® Supply Chain from Farm to Fork: Building Systems to Trace the Ecological, Nutritional and Community Benefits of Kernza® Production in Fields and Food Products

Year Awarded 2025

FFAR award amount $986,462

Total award amount $2,003,394

Location Moundridge, KS

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Wichita State University, 40 Century Grain, Inc., Merge Impact, NETZRO, Saltine Food, Colorado Malting Co, Denver Distillery LLC, Easy Modular Manufacturing, Sustain-A-Grain, Inc., Service Press, Artisan Naan Bakery, Boot Hill Distillery, LLC, Farmer Direct Foods, Sandhills Brewing, Midland Railroad Hotel, The FARM and The Odd Fellows, Smoky Valley Distillery, Prairy, The Land Institute, Perennial Agriculture Project, Perennial Spirits.

Grantee Institution Sustain-A-Grain

Food and beverage companies have expressed interest in Kernza, which became commercially available in 2016; however, demand for Kernza supply chain has remained small over the last decade and has yet to reach the scale needed for broader adoption. Sustain-A-Grain researchers are developing a traceable supply chain framework for Kernza to aid grain producers and food companies.

Advancing Soil Carbon Solutions through an Ecosystem Modeling and Data Consortium

Year Awarded 2025

FFAR award amount $1,500,000

Total award amount $3,000,000

Location Fort Collins, CO

Matching Funders Colorado State University, Soil Carbon Solutions Center

Grantee Institution Colorado State University

Colorado State University’s Ecosystem Modeling and Data Consortium is building an open, community-driven platform to advance ecosystem models and critical soil and greenhouse gas data, improving access, transparency and usability across the sector. The consortium brings together researchers, nonprofits, industry, and policy stakeholders to support rigorous soil carbon and greenhouse gas accounting while reducing barriers to data and model adoption.

Row Crops to Perennial Pasture: Feeding the World, Conserving Water, Enhancing Soil and Safeguarding the Climate

Year Awarded 2024

FFAR award amount $996,165

Total award amount $1,992,231

Location Lubbock, TX

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Cactus Feeders and Texas A&M AgriLife

Grantee Institution Texas A&M AgriLife

This research is developing best management practices that sustainably convert row crop production to perennial forage systems and enhance producer resiliency in the Texas High Plains.

Building Agroecosystem Soil Health to Adapt to Climate and Regulatory Realities while Protecting Rural Community Health

Year Awarded 2024

FFAR award amount $439,701

Total award amount $439,698

Location Santa Cruz, CA

Grantee Institution University of California, Santa Cruz

California’s agricultural watersheds face the dual challenge of water scarcity and water quality issues. This research is tackling complex and seemingly unsolvable problems affecting California’s agricultural communities by conducting on-farm work to gather information on how various soil health practices influence carbon, nitrogen and water in soil across diverse regions. The project will combine this data into a causal model that can help determine how different soil health practices will impact carbon sequestration, water scarcity and water quality under different climates and regulations, to increase farmer adoption of the practices.

Award Winner

Leveraging multi-scale datasets and modeling tools for improved soil health and carbon management

Year Awarded 2024

FFAR award amount $443,206

Total award amount $533,038

Location New York, NY

Matching Funders Columbia University

Grantee Institution Columbia University

Farmers and other agricultural decision makers often have trouble accessing reliable soil health information to guide their choices. This project is using existing data along with building new, integrated databases to develop a novel modeling system that combines process-based methods, advanced sensor technologies and stakeholder input to track soil health outcomes better. By delivering timely and interactive information connected to management scenarios, the project aims to help farmers and ranchers adopt practices that improve soil health, reduce nutrient loss and strengthen ecosystem resilience.

Award Winner

Next-generation Sustainable Weed Management Enabled by Micro-targeted Legged Robots

Year Awarded 2024

FFAR award amount $450,000

Total award amount $531,003

Location Ithaca, NY

Matching Funders Cotton Incorporated; NC Small Grain Growers Association, Inc.; Z3 Agriculture

Grantee Institution Cornell University

Weeds are developing herbicide resistance faster than new herbicides can be created. As a result, farmers face lower profits and yields, while greater chemical use threatens soil and water health. Xiang’s research seeks to replace the costly machinery and large quantities of chemicals used for weed control with AI-powered lightweight robots for targeted weed management. These robots can apply micro levels of herbicide at the site of weed growth, reducing chemical use by 99%, lowering costs and limiting farm workers’ exposure to chemicals. This treatment also minimizes field disturbance by protecting crop roots.

Award Winner

Electrochemically Assisted Biological Nitrogen Fixation for Distributed & Sustainable Fertilizer Production

Year Awarded 2024

FFAR award amount $450,000

Total award amount $450,000

Location Baltimore, MD

Grantee Institution Johns Hopkins University

Ammonia is a critical component of commonly used fertilizers, but its production is energy intensive and restricted to large, centralized plants in a few countries. These factors contribute to the agricultural system’s vulnerability to rising energy costs and supply chain disruptions. Rossi’s research is studying the use of renewable energy to stimulate and accelerate ammonia production in bacteria. The research aims to allow localized, on-farm ammonia production, ensuring farmers always have access to a low-cost and readily available fertilizer supply.

Award Winner

Determinants of Persistent Cover Crop Adoption and Dis-Adoption to Inform More Effective Farmer Incentives for Durable Adoption

Year Awarded 2024

FFAR award amount $138,888

Total award amount $277,777

Location Arlington, VA

Program AgMission

Matching Funders The Nature Conservancy

Grantee Institution The Nature Conservancy

This AgMission grant is evaluating cover crop adoption and identifying the factors leading to their successful, long-term use in the Midwestern United States.

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

98 Grants found

The Agricultural Nitrogen Use Efficiency Platform (AgNUE)

Outcome-Based Identification of Best Agronomic Practices to Reduce N Footprint in Agroecosystems

Kernza® Supply Chain from Farm to Fork: Building Systems to Trace the Ecological, Nutritional and Community Benefits of Kernza® Production in Fields and Food Products

Advancing Soil Carbon Solutions through an Ecosystem Modeling and Data Consortium

Irrigation Innovation Consortium Funds Seven Research Projects

FoodShot Global Challenge #1 Innovating Soil 3.0, Deep Dive GroundBreaker Prize (Colorado)

Row Crops to Perennial Pasture: Feeding the World, Conserving Water, Enhancing Soil and Safeguarding the Climate

Building Agroecosystem Soil Health to Adapt to Climate and Regulatory Realities while Protecting Rural Community Health

Leveraging multi-scale datasets and modeling tools for improved soil health and carbon management

Next-generation Sustainable Weed Management Enabled by Micro-targeted Legged Robots

Electrochemically Assisted Biological Nitrogen Fixation for Distributed & Sustainable Fertilizer Production

Determinants of Persistent Cover Crop Adoption and Dis-Adoption to Inform More Effective Farmer Incentives for Durable Adoption

FoodShot Global Challenge #4 Water GroundBreaker Prize (Indiana)

FoodShot Global Challenge #4 Water GroundBreaker Prize (Arizona)

Better Deal for Data

Advancing Knowledge and Adoption of Climate-Smart Practices in Semi-Arid Perennial Cropping Systems

UC Davis Receives FFAR Grant to Help Improve Vineyard Soil Health

Improving Soil Health on Vineyards

FFAR Awards Grant to Reduce Water Waste in Crop Irrigation

Protecting Soil Health & Food Safety in Almond Orchards

Transforming Wastewater to Crop Fertilizer

Increasing Motivation and Promoting Persistence in Farmer Conservation

Novel Farmer-to-Farmer Learning Approaches to Cultivate a Culture of Conservation in the Mississippi River Basin

Advancing DEI in Sharing Carbon & Ecosystems Services Information

Enhancing Tools to Model Climate and Environmental Impacts in Organic Agriculture Systems

University of Wisconsin-Madison Organic Grain Resource and Information Network

Equipping Conservation Professionals and Farmers with Tools to Deliver Edge of Field Practices

A Multi-Source Remote Sensing-Based Framework & Decision-Support Tool for Flash Droughts & Floods Under Climate Change

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

Using Solar Panels to Enhance Groundwater

Integrating On-farm Solar Arrays to Enhance Groundwater Resources, Produce Energy & Diversify Farm Income

Protecting Florida Corn from Tar Spot Outbreak

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

Iowa State University Organic Agriculture Program (ISU OAP)

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

Rodale Institution

Oregon Tilth

Oregon Tilth

Kalona Regenerative Network Producer Education Training Program

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

Increasing Water Productivity, Soil Carbon, and Sustainability of Integrated Multi-Crop Systems Using Field-Scale Research

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

OATS (Organic Agronomy Training Service)

FoodShot Global Challenge #3 Bioactive Foods GroundBreaker Prize (Champaign, Illinois)

Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) Reinvestment

Performance-Based Financing Models for Sustainable Water Management in the Great Lakes Basin

FoodShot Global Challenge #3 Bioactive Foods GroundBreaker Prize (Maryland)

FoodShot Global Challenge #3 Bioactive Foods GroundBreaker Prize (Massachusetts)

Expanding OpTIS, a remote sensing tool to accelerate soil health and climate-smart practices

Cotton-Based Precision Irrigation Improves Sustainability

Plant-Based Precision Irrigation Management for Improved System-Level Sustainability

Tuskegee University Endowment

Grant Quantifies Farm Risk Mitigation Through Improved Soil Health

Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) Grazing Research in the U.S. Northern Great Plains

Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) Grazing Research in the U.S. Southeast

Expanding development of a predictive model to quantify the risk reduction associated with specific soil health practices for use by private & public lenders & insurers to incentivize the transition to resilient, climate-smart agriculture

FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellowship First Cohort

Dairy, Soil & Water Regeneration Grant Promotes Integrated Research to Support Dairy Industry Commitment to Sustainability

U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative: Improving Dairy On-Farm Sustainability through Improved Soil Health and Manure Management

Mapping Trees in Future Climates: Integrating Knowledge, Data and Tools to Enhance Agroforestry Adoption for Climate Resilience

Kansas State University Provides Data on Nitrogen Management Practices in the Great Plains

Nitrogen SAVings through soil hEalth (NSAVE): Leveraging regenerative agriculture to reduce nitrogen inputs, increase farmer profits & mitigate climate change

Quantifying the Advantages of Multi-Paddock (AMP) Grazing in the U.S. Southeast & Northern Great Plains

AgMission/Precision Conservation Management MOU

FFAR Grant Examines Management Practices Effect on Soil Health

FoodShot Global Challenge #2 Precision Protein, Deep Dive GroundBreaker Prize (South Carolina)

FFAR and OFRF Renew Partnership to Improve Soil Health Research

New Crops ATLASS (Analytics Telenetwork: for Landscape, Agronomic, and Sociocultural Scalability)

FFAR & Rodale Institute Enhance Soil Health to Increase Crop Nutrients

OFRF and FFAR Fund Research to Enhance Organic Potato Nutrition

Conservation of an Endophytic Insect-pathogenic Fungus for Plant Protection in Organic Cropping Systems.

Cover Crops for Soil Health: Demonstration of On-Farm Trial

Biosolarization: Harnessing the Sun and Organic Matterfor Weed Control

FFAR Grant Examines Carbon Farming Effect on Soil Health

FFAR Grant Addressing Surface and Groundwater Pollution on Farms

Precision Irrigation Scheduling for Specialty Crops

FoodShot Global Challenge #1 Innovating Soil 3.0, Deep Dive GroundBreaker Prize (Maine)

FFAR Grant Provides Technical Training to Enhance Soil Health

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