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

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430 Grants found

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Innovative On-Farm Broiler Welfare Assessment Using Imaging Techniques

Year Awarded  2020

FFAR award amount   $500,000

Total award amount   $610,000

Location   Wageningen, Netherlands

Program   SMART Broiler

Matching Funders   Plukon Food Group, CLK GmbH, Utrecht University

Grantee Institution   Wageningen University & Research

Existing methods for assessing animal welfare rely on human observation and subjective scoring which can be inaccurate and time consuming. Wageningen University researchers are using an affordable camera-based system and artificial intelligence that automatically and continuously monitors broilers’ ability to walk and other activities. This grant was awarded through our SMART Broiler research initiative.

Flockfocus – Developing Automated Surveillance Tools to Safeguard Chicken Welfare

Year Awarded  2020

FFAR award amount   $310,738

Total award amount   $310,738

Location   Belfast, Northern Ireland

Program   SMART Broiler

Matching Funders   Moy Park

Grantee Institution   Queens University Belfast

Existing methods for assessing animal welfare rely on human observation and subjective scoring which can be inaccurate and time consuming. Queen’s University Belfast researchers are developing a vision-based system to monitor large numbers of birds and track individual activity patterns. This grant was awarded through our SMART Broiler research initiative.

OpticFlock: Automated Monitoring of Broiler Chicken Behavior That Prioritizes Animal Welfare

Year Awarded  2020

FFAR award amount   $232,063

Total award amount   $232,063

Location   Oxford, United Kingdom

Program   SMART Broiler

Matching Funders   Munters, 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. University of Oxford researchers are testing a novel camera/computer system, called OpticFlock, inside chicken houses to monitor bird behavior and alert producers to early signs of welfare issues, like foot pad lesions and lameness. This grant was awarded through our SMART Broiler research initiative.

Environmental Enrichment Effects on Pig Welfare

Year Awarded  2020

FFAR award amount   $75,000

Total award amount   $150,000

Location   Peoria, IL

Matching Funders   Tyson Foods

Grantee Institution   USDA-ARS

The environment in which pigs are raised contributes to their health, welfare and productivity. Damaging behaviors in group housing, such as tail-biting and ear chewing are detrimental to their welfare. USDA-ARS scientists are measuring behavior, health and growth rates to develop environmental enrichment management strategies that assess pigs’ welfare. The result of this research can be applied to the U.S. livestock industry.

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research: Zachary Lippman

Year Awarded  2020

Total award amount   $100,000

Location   Laurel Hollow, NY

Matching Funders   Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Grantee Institution   Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Dr. Zachary Lippman was awarded the 2020 National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture for his work to increase crop productivity in the face of declining agricultural land and population growth through novel gene editing techniques.

Integrating Community and Modeling Efforts to Evaluate Impacts and Tradeoffs of Food System Interventions 2020

Year Awarded  2020

FFAR award amount   $100,000

Total award amount   $2,000,718

Location   Fort Collins, CO

Program   Tipping Points

Grantee Institution   Colarado State University

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is highlighting food system deficiencies. Producers are struggling to reach consumers due to concerns with processing, distribution and demand. We provided supplemental funding to the Colorado State University research team to evaluate how food is provided through emergency feeding programs, who uses these services, the costs of these services, the food provided and its dietary quality

FFAR Grant Quantifies Organic Carbon to Improve Agricultural Productivity

Year Awarded  2020

FFAR award amount   $1,000,000

Total award amount   $2,070,000

Location   Urbana-Champaign, IL

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   University of Illinois , the University of Minnesota and Ag Air Imaging, LLC

Grantee Institution   University of Illinois, University of Minnesota

While also providing environmental benefits, carbon retention in the soil is critical for effective water retention, nutrient absorption and root development. The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) awarded a $1 million grant to the University of Illinois and the University of Minnesota to develop an integrated technique to monitor soil organic carbon, a measurable component of soil organic matter, in the U.S. Corn Belt.

Food and Agricultural Vulnerability Index

Year Awarded  2020

FFAR award amount   $221,743

Total award amount   $506,743

Location   West Lafayette, IN

Matching Funders   Microsoft

Grantee Institution   Purdue University

Purdue University researchers are creating a series of open-access online dashboards that help quantify and illustrate potential disruptions to the food supply chain. The dashboards will focus on COVID-19 but have the flexibility to be tailored to suit future market disruptions.

FFAR Grant Supports Climate Smart Beef and Dairy Production

Year Awarded  2020

FFAR award amount   $200,000

Total award amount   $603,500

Location   Greenfield, MA

Matching Funders   Australis Aquaculture

Grantee Institution   Greener Grazing

Methane is a potent climate pollutant that has more than 40 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide when released into the atmosphere. Ruminants, such as sheep, goats and cattle, release enteric methane from normal digestive processes primarily through “burps.” Previous research has shown that feeding a red seaweed, Asparagopsis taxiformis (AT), to cattle can dramatically reduce enteric methane emissions; however, AT is not readily available in large quantities for livestock. To address this challenge, the we awarded a $200,000 grant to Greener Grazing, LLC, a subsidiary of Australis Aquaculture, LLC, to develop the world’s first seed bank and ocean cultivation techniques for AT.

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

Year Awarded  2020

FFAR award amount   $500,000

Total award amount   $1,000,000

Location   Davis, CA

Program   Plant Protein Enhancement Project

Matching Funders   Open Philanthropy

Grantee Institution   NuCicer

The future of agriculture requires producing more food on less land in an environmentally sustainable manner. Ensuring global nutritional security depends in large part on plants that are more efficient at producing calories and protein than livestock. However, centuries of crop domestication have limited the genetic capacity to improve widely consumed crops to meet these needs. NuCicer is introducing greater genetic diversity into chickpea varieties. This research is increasing protein content and quality and developing other desirable agronomic traits in chickpeas.