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

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79 Grants found

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

Pangenome-based Identification of Genetic Variants Conferring Stress Resistance in Tomato Wild Relatives, and Efficient Transfer to Cultivated Tomato

Applied Innovation of Myoinositol to Improve Cattle Fertility & Sustainability of Cattle Production Systems

Transforming Dairy Cattle Lameness Management through a Combination of Artificial Intelligence-Powered Video Analytics & Genomic, Epidemiological & Extension Approaches

Unearthing Maize Genes for Enhanced Nitrogen Use Efficiency & AMF Synergy

Accelerating Perennial Crop Development Through Phenomic & Genomic Selection Applied in Pre-breeding & Advanced Breeding Stages

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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

Genetic and microbial determinants of nitrogen fixation in a Sierra Mixe landrace of maize

Increasing Dietary Fiber in Wheat Crop

Protecting Soil Health & Food Safety in Almond Orchards

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A Novel Cell-Surface-Receptor Strategy for Mitigating Mycotoxins

Transforming Wastewater to Crop Fertilizer

Transforming Wastewater to Crop Fertilizer

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

Using Solar Panels to Enhance Groundwater

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

Developing Tomato Lines Resistant to Broomrape, a Critical World-wide Pest

Uniting Urban Agriculture Operations to Increase Food Security

Validation of Efficacy of a Protective DIVA-Compatible Prototype African Swine Fever Virus Vaccine

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

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

FFAR Grant Promotes Sorghum Health Benefits

Cotton-Based Precision Irrigation Improves Sustainability

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

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Development of new alphaamylase immunoassays to preserve wheat grain value and accelerate breeding for climate resilience

Urban farming at the Water, Food, Energy Nexus: soil health practices with agrivoltaic impacts on crops, soils, carbon, and water

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

Investigating Natural Nitro-Compounds as a Viable Strategy to Reduce Enteric Methane Emission from Ruminants

Grant Investigates Naturally Occurring Compound to Reduce Enteric Methane Emissions

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

FFAR Grant Improves Soil Health Through Phosphorus Management

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

FFAR Research Tackles Peanut Allergy

High protein aquatic plants for controlled environment indoor farms

Mitigating antibiotic use in aquaculture through vaccination

More Beans (MB): A Next Generation Legume for Healthy Urban Food

High dimensional phenomics and automation to transform cost and timeframe of early stage domestication of wild plants

University of Tennessee Receives FFAR Grant to Help Address Food Waste Challenges

FFAR Grant Addresses Food Waste Reduction Challenges

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Breeding drought & heat tolerant wheat

Enhancing Human Health and Nutrition from Soil to Society Using Quinoa as a Model Crop Species

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

A Novel Platform Technology for Biologicals with Antimicrobial & Regenerative Properties Based on the Stem Cell Repertoire of Secreted Biomolecules

Scalable breeding for plant growth to address the challenges of climate change

FFAR Grant Helps Heat-Stressed Dairy Cows Weather Increasing Temperatures

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Grant Supports Production of Sustainable, Cost-Effective Feed Supplements

FFAR Grant to Develop Vaccine for Tilapia Lake Virus

FFAR & Rodale Institute Enhance Soil Health to Increase Crop Nutrients

Rethinking seafood by-product: A path to provide sustainable nutrition and improve resource utilization

Genome Editing Wheat for Durable & Sustainable Disease Resistance

Accelerated Development of Crops of the Future

FFAR Grant Quantifies Organic Carbon to Improve Agricultural Productivity

FFAR Grant Examines Carbon Farming Effect on Soil Health

FFAR Grant Addressing Surface and Groundwater Pollution on Farms

FFAR and NYSTAR Grant Helps RIT Examine Degradable Mulching Films

Growing Policy From The Ground Up: Building, Deploying, and Testing Networks to Strengthen Urban Food Systems

Precision Irrigation Scheduling for Specialty Crops

FFAR Grant Provides Technical Training to Enhance Soil Health

Addressing future global dairy demand: Targeting the gut-liver axis to promote heat stress resilience in dairy cattle

Reducing Food Waste by Reshaping Consumer Behavior Using Data-Informed, Dynamic Economic Incentives

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

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Integration of Small Farmers into Technology-enabled, Rapid-response Fresh Food Supply Chains

Employing Regional Produce Cooperatives to Enhance Household Nutrition and Reduce Food Insecurity

Blackfeet Innovation Pathways to Food Sovereignty: Sustainability through Indigenous Applied Research Partnerships

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

Prairie Strips for Healthy Soils and Thriving Farms

Protein-Based Thermotolerance Markers for Sustainable Legume Protein Production

Closing the Gap in Delivery of Fruit and Vegetable Benefits

Automated Individual Poultry Vaccination to Aid in Antibiotic Removal

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Advanced Harvest Techniques Facilitate Food Safe Soil Health Practices in Almond Orchards

An Open Source Plant Chemogenomics Set

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

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Defining Stressors to Manage Plasticity & Quality in Leafy Greens

Enhancing Animal Protein through Crops and Cattle

An Open Source Framework and Community for Sharing Data and Algorithms

Fostering Innovative, Sustainable Urban Farming Methods to Meet Food Needs

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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.

Pangenome-based Identification of Genetic Variants Conferring Stress Resistance in Tomato Wild Relatives, and Efficient Transfer to Cultivated Tomato 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $994,561

Total award amount   $2,063,835

Location   Ithaca, NY

Matching Funders   Meiogenix

Grantee Institution   Boyce Thompson Institute

Tomatoes are an important economic and nutritional crop, but they are vulnerable to stresses from extreme weather and disease, which puts food security and farmers’ profits at risk. This research is harnessing wild tomatoes’ genetic diversity to improve cultivated tomato varieties. The research is focusing on resistance to drought and early blight disease, two significant challenges facing tomato growers worldwide.

Applied Innovation of Myoinositol to Improve Cattle Fertility & Sustainability of Cattle Production Systems 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $352,936

Total award amount   $705,871

Location   Knoxville, TN

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture

Grantee Institution   University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture

This study is testing whether the supplement myoinositol, known to enhance fertility in women, can improve egg quality and embryo development in cattle when added in the lab or given directly to donor cows. By increasing fertilization, embryo viability and pregnancy rates, the research aims to make in vitro embryo production (IVP) more successful, overcoming current challenges with poor egg quality.

Transforming Dairy Cattle Lameness Management through a Combination of Artificial Intelligence-Powered Video Analytics & Genomic, Epidemiological & Extension Approaches 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $1,000,000

Total award amount   $2,000,000

Location   St. Paul, MN

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   CattleEye LTD, CATTLEytics, the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding and Kinder Ground

Grantee Institution   University of Minnesota

Researchers are combining advanced data analysis of farm records, hoof health history and genetic information with autonomous cameras to better understand the impact, causes and detection of lameness in dairy cows to help farms breed cows less prone to it. Lameness caused by hoof lesions remains one of the most costly and persistent animal welfare issues on U.S dairy farms, affecting cow health and productivity and farm profitability.

Unearthing Maize Genes for Enhanced Nitrogen Use Efficiency & AMF Synergy 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $999,996

Total award amount   $2,196,825

Location   St. Louis, MO

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Pennsylvania State University, Valent BioSciences LLC

Grantee Institution   Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Industrial farming relies on large applications of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. However, a significant portion of fertilizer is not used by the plants, which costs producers money and can affect soil and water health. Donald Danforth Plant Science Center researchers are exploring the impacts of deep rooted corn, and the symbiotic relationship between corn and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, both of which can increase the reach of corn roots.

Accelerating Perennial Crop Development Through Phenomic & Genomic Selection Applied in Pre-breeding & Advanced Breeding Stages 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $1,000,000

Total award amount   $2,926,098

Location   St. Louis, MO

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Kansas State University, The Land Institute, Perennial Agriculture Project, Saint Louis University

Grantee Institution   Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Farming annual crops, like wheat and corn, requires high input costs and can degrade soil over time. Perennial crops, however, have deep roots that can lower farming costs by conserving nutrients and water. Still, few herbaceous perennial species have been domesticated for large-scale agricultural production. Donald Danforth Plant Science Center researchers aim to optimize and expedite the domestication of perennials by developing strategies for screening potential breeding candidates at early life stages.

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

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $462,374

Total award amount   $924,749

Location   Davis, CA

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   The Almond Board of California, Ceres AI, TriNut Farm Management Inc., University of California, Davis and the University of California, Merced

Grantee Institution   University of California, Davis

This Seeding Solutions grant is advancing climate-smart agriculture adoption for perennial crops like almonds that are grown in semi-arid environments

A Novel Cell-Surface-Receptor Strategy for Mitigating Mycotoxins 

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $1,000,000

Total award amount   $2,727,930

Location   Evanston, IL

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   2Blades, Bayer Crop Science, Mars

Corn is one of the most consumed crops globally; however, crop diseases are a major threat to yield. A danger associated with corn consumption is mycotoxins - chemicals produced by certain fungi that grow within the corn plant that cause illness and death in humans and animals. 2Blades is using new genetic tools to develop corn that has strong, long-lasting resistance to these fungi

Transforming Wastewater to Crop Fertilizer 

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $669,739

Total award amount   $1,347,730

Location   Brattelboro, VT

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   Cornell University, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, Rich Earth Institute, University of Michigan

Grantee Institution   Rich Earth Institute

Synthetic fertilizers accelerate crop growth and are commonly used in agriculture; however, these products contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, wastewater is also a source of pollution, and only a fraction of the vast quantity of nutrients flowing through modern wastewater treatment systems is captured for beneficial reuse. A significant portion of regional fertilizer needs could be met by reclaiming the nutrients present in wastewater. Rich Earth Institute is producing biochar from wastewater material to potentially be used to develop safe, renewable fertilizers that enhance agricultural productivity, support soil health, reduce nutrient pollution and mitigate climate change through soil carbon sequestration. This grant furthers the work of a previous FFAR Seeding Solutions grant to Rich Earth Institute

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

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $434,038

Total award amount   $966,119

Location   Knoxville, TN

Matching Funders   University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Grantee Institution   University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Ninety percent of crop losses in the United States occur due to extreme weather. Flash floods and droughts are increasing in severity, but farmers have limited information on how to manage crop, soil and water in response to changing climate conditions. Researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville are developing and testing a weather-based tool to bolster field operations across the Tennessee River Basin in the face of both long- and short-term weather hazards.