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

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75 Grants found

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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.

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.

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

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $881,526

Total award amount   $1,763,053

Location   Lawrence, KS

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc., Kansas State University, Michigan State University, Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Inc.

The High Plains Aquifer provides irrigation to support a $3.5 billion agricultural economy across eight states, but due to decades of groundwater extraction, water levels have fallen dangerously low across much of the aquifer. Researchers at the University of Kansas are studying the integration of solar panel arrays outfitted with rain collection gutters on farmland to recharge groundwater and provide marketable electricity to growers.

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

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $232,728

Total award amount   $465,456

Location   Davis, CA

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   University of California, Davis

Grantee Institution   University of California, Davis

Branched broomrape is a parasitic weed threatening the United States’ supply of processing tomatoes. The weed can completely decimate tomato crops, creating significant economic losses for growers. Current processing tomato varieties are not resistant to the weed. University of California, Davis researchers are developing a tomato variety with branched broomrape resistance.

FFAR Grant to Improve Sorghum & Strengthen Nutritional Security 

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $809,879

Total award amount   $1,619,758

Location   Entebbe, Uganda

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO)

Grantee Institution   National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO)

Developing sorghum varieties with high iron and zinc in the grain for human consumption and reduced levels of hydrogen cyanide, an anti-nutrient, to increase the bioavailability of nutritious foods in the region.

ID: 22-000158