Grants Archive

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

Genomic foundation for neodomestication and breeding of a halophytic grain crop, Distichlis palmeri

Year Awarded 2022

FFAR award amount $985,000

Total award amount $1,984,237

Location Thuwal, Saudi Arabia

Matching Funders King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Grantee Institution King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Rising sea levels and depleting freshwater reserves are causing a rapid increase in soil salinization, meaning higher levels of salt in the ground. Researchers are assessing the domestication potential of Distichlis palmeri (D. palmeri), a saltwater-loving plant found in the tidal plains around the Gulf of California in Mexico, which would help transition salt-degraded lands into productive agriculture ecosystems.

Building a Common Language for Antimicrobial Resistance Between Human & Animal Health

Year Awarded 2022

FFAR award amount $216,724

Total award amount $433,449

Location Ames, IA

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Merck MSD

Grantee Institution Iowa State University

To strengthen antimicrobial stewardship within livestock veterinary medicine this research aims to develop a standard method of collecting, reporting and sharing multispecies antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) results for use in human and animal health industries.

Enabling African Scientists: The African Plant Breeding Academy CRISPR Course

Year Awarded 2022

FFAR award amount $1,000,000

Total award amount $1,999,998

Location Davis, CA

Matching Funders Bayer Crop Sciences, Syngenta Seeds, LLC

Grantee Institution University of California Davis

While Africa is abundant with crops, African farmers need crop breeding tools and training to be self-sustainable and achieve nutritional security. To advance crop breeding and mobilize innovation for regional crops, the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) to create and deliver a CRISPR Course on gene editing through UC Davis’ African Plant Breeding Academy. The Course is training 80 African scientists to develop improved regional crop varieties with the characteristics required for successful crop production and nutrition.

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

Year Awarded 2022

FFAR award amount $455,704

Total award amount $914,543

Location State College, PA

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Purina Animal Nutrition

Grantee Institution Penn State University

Enteric methane is the single largest source of direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the beef and dairy sectors, representing 2.5% of total U.S. GHG emissions. Led by Dr. Alexander N. Hristov, researchers are investigating using a non-synthetic form of an anti-methanogenic compound, 3-nitro-1-propionic acid (3-NPA), derived from plant and fungal sources as a feed additive to reduce enteric methane in ruminants.

Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program

Year Awarded 2022

FFAR award amount $1,150,000

Total award amount $2,300,000

Location Manhattan, KS

Program Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program

Matching Funders Swine Health Information Center & Pork Checkoff

Grantee Institution Swine Health Information Center

Proactively enhancing wean-to-harvest biosecurity will help control the next emerging disease in the U.S. pork industry and improve U.S. swine herd health. Phase 1 of this program identifies subject matter experts and assembles task forces with the responsibility of establishing research priorities. In Phase 2, proposals are solicited to investigate cost-effective, innovative technologies, protocols, or ideas to implement biosecurity during the wean-to-harvest phase of production.

Noninvasive Wellness Monitoring of Broiler Growout Using Continuous Audio Analytics (2022)

Year Awarded 2022

FFAR award amount $300,000

Location Atlanta, GA

Program SMART Broiler

Matching Funders McDonald’s Corporation and Tyson Foods

Grantee Institution AudioT

This research is developing a scalable, low-cost audio-monitoring tool that tracks bird vocalizations to alert farmers to broiler welfare and behavior. Bird vocalizations can provide insight into flock status and can be a complementary tool to video-based systems.

Flockfocus – Developing Automated Surveillance Tools to Safeguard Chicken Welfare (2022)

Year Awarded 2022

Total award amount $1,000,000

Location Belfast, Northern Ireland

Program SMART Broiler

Matching Funders McDonald's Corporation and in-kind support from multiple partners

Grantee Institution Queen’s University Belfast

Existing methods for assessing animal welfare rely on human observation and subjective scoring which can be inaccurate and time consuming.This research is transferring intelligent surveillance techniques used for tracking humans to provide real time monitoring of individual birds within a flock. This camera-based technology, called FlockFocus, represents a significant improvement to monitoring technology currently available to the industry and has the potential for revolutionizing animal welfare in other sectors.

OPTICFLOCK: Welfare benefits of automated assessment of broiler chicken welfare

Year Awarded 2022

FFAR award amount $325,000

Location Oxford, United Kingdom

Program SMART Broiler

Matching Funders McDonald’s Corporation, Munters and Tyson Foods

Grantee Institution University of Oxford

Existing methods for assessing animal welfare rely on human observation and subjective scoring which can be inaccurate and time consuming.This research is refining and extending the testing of a novel camera and computer system called OPTICFLOCK. The project is comparing key welfare outcomes, including hockburn, foot pad lesions and lameness, in commercial flocks managed with or without the technology and incorporates strategies to facilitate producer adoption of OPTICFLOCK technology.

Novel Strategies to Improve the Understanding of Liver Abscess Formation in Beef Cattle

Year Awarded 2021

Total award amount $250,000

Location Lubbock, TX

Matching Funders Texas Tech University

Grantee Institution Texas Tech University

The exact cause of liver abscesses is unknown. However, once they are formed, they are highly susceptible to the Fusobacterium necrophorum (F. necrophorum) bacterium, resulting in major economic loss to producers due to impaired cattle performance and lower carcass value. This research investigates the gastrointestinal location, concentration and movement of F. necrophorum and Salmonella enterica, as well as the other organisms that live in the intestines of feedlot cattle with liver abscesses. This first phase of Hales’ research will inform a methodology to reduce F. necrophorum through a direct-fed microbial.

Grant Outcome

Researchers found that bacteria linked to liver abscesses in cattle are present throughout the digestive system, but their levels alone do not explain why abscesses develop. These findings highlight that liver abscesses are driven by a complex mix of diet, gut health and immune factors, which is important for developing better ways to prevent disease, improve animal health and reduce losses for producers.

Development of Metrics to Identify Cattle Predisposed to Feedlot Heart Failure

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $433,720

Total award amount $998,398

Location Fort Collins, CO

Matching Funders Genus/ABS Global, Cactus Research, Veterinary Research and Consulting Services LLC and Hy-Plains Education and Research Center

Grantee Institution Colorado State University

Researchers and veterinarians have noted an increasing incidence of feedlot cattle affected by untreatable and fatal congestive heart failure, a condition known as feedlot heart disease (FHD). This grant is reducing the risk of this disease in feedlot beef cattle by improving methods to identify affected animals, understand the genetic underpinnings of the disease and develop mitigation strategies for the condition

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

201 Grants found

Breaking the Barrier to Mass Sterilization in Finfish Aquaculture With Natural Sterility Technology

A Novel Approach to Interception of Avian Flu Virus Transmission

Repurposing a Human Drug to Fight the Invasive New World Screwworm

Six SHIC/FFAR Co-Funded Research Project to Advance Swine Disease Monitoring & Mitigation

Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program

Predictive model development to promote science- based, strategic metaphylaxis administration in beef operations

Assessment of Animal Hosts’ Vulnerability to New World Screwworm Reemergence in the United States

BPI3Vc-vectored Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus (H5N1) Subunit Vaccine

Unraveling Species-Specific Antiviral Mechanisms to Improve Avian Influenza Control

Unlocking Avian Flu Resistance: Investigating Genetic Resilience in Fayoumi & Commercial Chickens

Development & Evaluation of Precision-guided Sterile Insect Technique (pgSIT) Strains for Biotechnology-enhanced Control of Screwworm

Decreasing pulmonary-associated mortality in feedlot cattle using refined case definitions and predictive analytics: emphasizing acute interstitial pneumonia and late day BRD

Lungs as a potential source and relationships of ruminal, colonic & fecal concentrations of fusobacterium necrophorum to liver abscesses in feedlot cattle

Antimicrobial resistance & use tracking through swine production flows on farms in the upper Midwest of the US

Protecting the U.S. Dairy and Poultry Industries: Utilizing Ultraviolet Technology to Mitigate Airborne Transmission of Avian Influenza

Understanding HPAI Transmission Risk on Dairy Farms

Addressing Red Crown Rot in Soybeans

Developing a Decontamination Strategy for HPAI-Infected Milk

Protecting Cattle from Asian Longhorned Tick

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

Development of Prevention, Detection and Response Strategies for the Asian Longhorned Tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis)

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

Ten H5N1 Risk to Swine Research Awards

Japanese Encephalitis Virus Program Six Awards

FFAR Vet Fellows Seventh Cohort

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

Accelerating Coffee Breeding Through Developing Tools to Screen for Critical Disease & Pest Resistance

Development of a Vaccine for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) Virus in Cattle

Decision Tools Help Producers Analyze Cost of Swine Mortality for Operations Improvement

FFAR Rapid Funding Develops Pest Management Program for Sweet Corn

FFAR Rapid Research Develops H5N1 Waste Stream Surveillance Tool

A multiplexed chemical sensor system to automate non-invasive, in-ovo sex determination for the poultry industry

Leveraging landrace genomics to rapidly engineer thermotolerant cassava

Using novel genes from wild germplasm to boost protein content in cultivated chickpea

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

Improving Fiber Hemp Quality Through Enhanced Retting Probiotics & Appropriate Harvest Timing

Improving Hemp Quality Through Harvest Timing & Enhanced Processing

Major enhancement of U.S. swine industry preparedness and responses to large-scale infectious foreign animal diseases through harmonizing biosecurity plans and advancing interpretable machine learning

Addressing On-Farm Bird Flu Outbreaks Linked to Wild Waterfowl

Rapid Response to Novel Resistance-Breaking Strain of Pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum in Cultivated Strawberry

Grant Improves Stress Tolerance in Carrots

Novel Tools for Engineering Apomixis in Soybean

FFAR Vet Fellows Sixth Cohort

Understanding Plant Parasitic Nematode Virulence Mechanisms: A Valuable Approach to Expedite Breeding Durable & Broad-spectrum Crop Resistance

Novel Biobased Antiviral Treatments for Bee Pollinator Health

International Lettuce Genomics Consortium 4: Pre-competitive Foundational Research for Lettuce Breeding

Decreasing Pulmonary-Associated Mortality in Feedlot Cattle Using Refined Case Definitions & Predictive Analytics, Emphasizing Acute Interstitial Pneumonia & Late Day BRD

Metabolomic analysis of blood plasma to identify unique biomarkers indicative of liver abscesses

Associations between feeding & management practices of beef-on-dairy cattle from birth to harvest with liver abscesses

Promoting antimicrobial stewardship through improved understanding of how feedlot cattle are classified based on BRD risk

FFAR Rapid Research Builds Diagnostic Tools & Vaccine for Avian Metapneumovirus

FFAR Research to Protect Vegetable Crops from Invasive Pest

Protecting Vegetable Crops from Invasive Pests

A Novel Cell-Surface-Receptor Strategy for Mitigating Mycotoxins

Modeling for genomic, blood & microbiological markers for liver abscesses in fed beef cattle

Understanding liver abscess pathogenesis & risk-factors of feedlot cattle reared in conventional beef versus dairy management systems

ICASA: Defining the contribution of acidosis to the liver abscess complex using novel challenge model to delineate impacts of diet composition and feeding management on liver abscess pathogenesis

Acoustic Monitoring to Support Mass Cattle Treatment Decisions

An International Collaboration for Combating Fusarium Wilt in Cotton

Elucidating the Genetic Basis for Sub-Tropical Flowering in Hemp

Breeding & Characterizing New Cultivars of Grain & Fiber Hemp

Integrating Genomics, Milk Spectrometry & Microbial Manipulations to Mitigate Enteric Methane Emissions from Dairy Cattle

Hydrogen Production and Hydrogen Utilization in the Rumen of Beef & Dairy Cattle: Key Rumen Microbiome Measurements to Understand Mechanisms Controlling Methanogenesis & Mitigating Enteric Methane Emissions

Evaluation of the Efficacy, Agronomic Fit & Environmental Fate of Biopesticides for Management of Economically Important Diseases & Arthropod Pests of Hemp

A holistic approach to improving keel bone health of breeders and commercial layer hens

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

Enabling African Scientists: The African Plant Breeding Academy CRISPR Course

Development of Novel Methanogenesis Inhibitors in Ruminants

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

FFAR Vet Fellows Fifth Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Fourth Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Third Cohort

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

Field trial of gene-edited rice for drought tolerance

Identifying Proteins Required for Immunity to ASFV

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