Grants Archive

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

FFAR Awards Cornell University a Grant to Treat Udder Infection in Dairy Cattle

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $642,202

Total award amount $14,000,000

Location Ithaca, NY

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders New York Farm Viability Institute, Elanco

Grantee Institution Cornell University

Mastitis, a common and costly udder infection in dairy cattle is a major economic problem for dairy farmers. Cornell University researchers are exploring compounds secreted by stem cells as a potential therapy for mastitis.

Sustainable Production of High-Performance Feed Supplements

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $653,035

Total award amount $1,410,000

Location St. Paul, MN

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Launch Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, private equity financing and Sasya, Inc.

Grantee Institution University of Minnesota

As consumer demand for animal protein increases, meat producers are under tremendous pressure to increase productivity, while maintaining profitability. As a result, many producers rely on feed supplements to encourage faster growth, reduce disease and improve feed efficiency. This Seeding Solutions grant awarded to Sasya, Inc. supports the development of sustainable, cost-effective, multi-species feed supplements that are safe for livestock, the environment and human consumption.

ICASA Awards Grants to Develop Animal-Health Monitoring and Diagnostic Technologies

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $7,500,000

Total award amount $15,000,000

Location Washington, D.C.

Grantee Institution Texas A&M, Precision Livestock Technology, Purdue University, USDA-ARS

The International Consortium for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Agriculture (ICASA), a public-private partnership established by the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) to advance research on antimicrobial stewardship in animal agriculture, awarded grants to four organizations for research supporting the development of animal-health monitoring and diagnostic technologies.

FFAR Grant to Develop Vaccine for Tilapia Lake Virus

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $790,326

Total award amount $1,830,312

Location Gainesville, FL

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Curtiss Healthcare

Grantee Institution University of Florida

Tilapia provides protein for billions of people each year. These fish are under threat from tilapia lake virus, a highly contagious virus that causes high mortality rates among tilapia and poses a global threat to food security. University of Florida researchers are developing a vaccine delivery system that will prevent the spread of tilapia lake virus and other diseases in the aquaculture industry.

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

Year Awarded 2020

FFAR award amount $796,878

Total award amount $1,593,756

Location Ithaca, NY

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders BASF, Limagrain, Virginia Crop Improvement Association

Grantee Institution Cornell University

Climate change is creating increasingly unstable farming environments, leading to unpredictable yields and quality. Crop breeding programs aim to develop crops that can thrive despite climate instability; however, breeding programs face their own challenges in predicting how the climate will change and how crops will respond. One specific challenge to breeding programs is the lack of information about how plant genomes and growing conditions interact, and how that interaction impacts agronomic traits such as yield. Cornell University researchers are studying how different plant genomes respond to environment conditions throughout the entire growing season, with the goal of improving crops’ climate resiliency.

Innovations in Plant Genetics to Develop Intermediate Wheatgrass as a Next-Generation Sustainable Crop

Year Awarded 2020

FFAR award amount $992,419

Total award amount $1,985,206

Location Minneapolis, MN

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Forever Green Initiative, Malone Family Land Preservation Foundation, The Land Institute

Grantee Institution University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota is accelerate the development of intermediate wheatgrass, trademarked as Kernza by The Land Institute, which is a perennial plant, meaning it requires only one planting. Not only do perennial crops like Kernza reduce labor and input costs, their deep roots reduce soil erosion and trap more carbon, benefitting the environment.

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

Year Awarded 2020

FFAR award amount $748,545

Total award amount $1,497,641

Location Gainesville, FL

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Acceligen, The Semex Alliance

Grantee Institution Acceligen

Cattle, if not adapted to heat, can exhibit an extreme physical reaction to heat stress, including reductions in feed intake and milk production, slowed growth and increased disease susceptibility. Acceligen researchers are examining how genetic alterations can improve heat resistance in cattle. By introducing naturally occurring gene variations into breeds of cattle that are not adapted to heat, researchers can better understand how to control heat stress and ultimately improve animal health, well-being, fertility and economic return for producers.

Genome Editing Wheat for Durable & Sustainable Disease Resistance

Year Awarded 2020

FFAR award amount $900,000

Total award amount $3,272,723

Location Berkeley, CA

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders 2Blades Foundation, Innovative Genomics Institute

Grantee Institution University of California Berkely

To control plant epidemics by breeding plants for disease resistance, scientists use traditional crop breeding to introduce, or stack, multiple resistance genes – though this is a time-consuming approach and pathogens evolve to overcome resistance. University of California, Berkeley researchers are using gene editing technology to stack resistance genes in the wheat crops that specifically recognize the pathogen’s proteins. By recognizing the pathogen’s proteins, the plant can fight the pathogen, even if the pathogen mutates.

Accelerated Development of Crops of the Future

Year Awarded 2020

FFAR award amount $748,549

Total award amount $1,497,098

Location Ames, IA

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Iowa State University, KWS SAAT SE & Co, Beck’s Superior Hybrids, BASF, SAATEN-UNION BIOTEC and RAGT

Grantee Institution Iowa State University

On average, it takes farmers ten years to produce a new crop. With an increasing global population, there is high demand for more crops sooner. Iowa State University researchers are developing breeding methods that accelerate plant breeding for multiple crop species. These breeding techniques deliver improved crop varieties – with greater yields – into the hands of farmers sooner.

Biological Control of Cattle Fever Ticks in South Texas

Year Awarded 2020

FFAR award amount $25,000

Total award amount $50,000

Location San Antonio, TX

Program Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research

Matching Funders Lee and Ramona Bass Foundation

Grantee Institution USDA-ARS

In addition to market volatility threats from COVID-19, Texas cattle ranchers are also battling the southern cattle fever tick (Rhipicephalus microplus), a tick carried pathogen that causes deadly cattle fever for which there is no vaccine or treatment. USDA researchers are developing biological control technologies to prevent and contain this parasite.

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

164 Grants found

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

Japanese Encephalitis Virus Program Six Awards

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

Improving Hemp Quality Through Harvest Timing & Enhanced Processing

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

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

Antimicrobial Use Monitoring & Benchmarking in U.S. Feedyards

FFAR Vet Fellows Sixth Cohort

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

Field trial of rice gene-edited rice for drought tolerance

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

Identifying Proteins Required for Immunity to ASFV

Analyzing the Efficacy of Live-vectored Prototype ASFV Subunit Vaccines

Assessment of the Available Literature & Gap Analysis on the Use of Industrial Hemp as an Animal Feed

Multistate Characterization of Agronomic Performance of Hemp Cultivars, Including Sterility of New Triploid Cultivars

Impact of Spectra & Intensity of LED Supplemental Lighting on Morphology, Growth, Flower Yield & Phytochemical Content of Cannabis Sativa

Breeding & Genetics of Disease Resistance, Flowering Time & Cannabinoid Content in Hemp

Analysis of Terpenes & Neutral Cannabinoids Using Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometry & Genotyping of Hemp Using the SureSelect System

FFAR Grant Promotes Sorghum Health Benefits

ICASA: Antimicrobial Use Monitoring and Benchmarking in U.S. Feedyards

ICASA: Liver abscesses in feedlot cattle; further delineation of the etiology and pathogenesis

ICASA: Fecal microbiota transplant to reduce post-weaning diarrhea and antibiotic use

ICASA: Novel Strategies to Improve Understanding of Liver Abscess Formation and Mitigation in Beef Cattle

ICASA: Pathogen-host interaction during the development of liver abscesses; local and systemic immune and metabolic responses during Fusobacterium necrophorum challenges

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

ICASA: Improving the efficacy of vaccination against mycoplasma hyosynoviae by identifying optimal application times

Improving the Efficacy of Vaccination Against Mycoplasma Hyosynoviae by Identifying Optimal Application Times

ICASA: Risk Factors for Lameness in Finishing Pigs

ICASA: Development of a non-invasive model to induce liver abscess formation in cattle

Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program

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

Fecal Microbiota Transplant to Reduce Post Weaning Diarrhea & Antibiotic Use

Risk Factors for Lameness in Finishing Pigs

Pathogen-Host Interaction During the Development of Liver Abscesses; Local & Systemic Immune & Metabolic Responses During Fusobacterium Necrophorum Challenges

Defining the Contribution of Acidosis to the Liver Abscess Complex Using a Novel Challenge Model to Delineate Impacts of Diet Composition & Feeding Management on Liver Abscess Pathogenesis

Further Delineation of the Etiology and Pathogenesis of Liver Abscesses in Feedlot Cattle

Development of a Non-Invasive Model to Induce Liver Abscess Formation in Beef Cattle

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

Creating Science-Based Strategies for Gene Editing Communications

FFAR Awards Cornell University a Grant to Treat Udder Infection in Dairy Cattle

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

FFAR Grant Helps Heat-Stressed Dairy Cows Weather Increasing Temperatures

Improving Protein Content & Quality in Peas

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