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

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384 Grants found

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Crops in Silico 3.0

Year Awarded  2019

FFAR award amount   $2,500,000

Total award amount   $5,000,000

Location   Urbana-Champaign, IL

Matching Funders   The Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment at the University of Illinois, NCSA

University of Illinois researchers are developing a suite of virtual plant models that examine the effects of environmental challenges on a molecular, cellular and organ level within a plant to accurately determine the best targets for genetic engineering. This second grant allows researchers to continue building a computational platform that integrates multiple models to study a whole plant virtually.

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

Year Awarded  2019

FFAR award amount   $998,496

Total award amount   $1,998,146

Location   Bozeman, MT

Matching Funders   Montana Healthcare Foundation

Despite the Blackfeet Nation’s rich agricultural diversity, the Piikani people suffer from diet-related health disparities and persistent poverty. Blackfeet Nation and Montana State University researchers are helping ranchers and farmers make cost-effective management decisions, investigating regional food systems and identifying how tradition Indigenous foods influence Piikani health.

Crops of the Future: Corn Drought Resistance

Year Awarded  2019

FFAR award amount   $900,000

Total award amount   $1,800,000

Location   Madison, WI

Matching Funders   Inari, KWS, Syngenta

Drought is a primary limitation to crop production that impacts future food security. Researchers at the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System are enhancing genetic characterization and prediction of drought response in maize.

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

Year Awarded  2019

FFAR award amount   $999,740

Total award amount   $2,027,981

Location   Chicago, IL

Matching Funders   Rachel Ray Foundation, Target, University of Illinois

Millions of Americans struggle with food insecurity. Feeding America established Regional Produce Cooperatives to direct a greater variety of produce to food banks at a lower cost. Feeding America is evaluating whether the decrease food waste, shorten the time between source and distribution and increase access to produce. Ultimately, the project aims to increase consumption of nutritious produce and decrease food insecurity.

Evaluation of feed additives to mitigate the risk of viral-contaminated feed to pigs

Year Awarded  2019

FFAR award amount   $150,000

Total award amount   $300,000

Location   Pipestone, MN

Program   Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research

Matching Funders   ADM Animal Nutrition, Antiox, Kemin Industries, PMI Nutrition Additives, Swine Health Information Center

Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) virus and Seneca Valley A (SVA) are deadly swine diseases that can spread through contaminated animal feed. Pipestone Applied Research is testing ten commercially available disease mitigants, or feed additives, to assess whether these mitigants can deactivate these and other swine diseases.

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

Year Awarded  2019

FFAR award amount   $963,513

Total award amount   $1,928,166

Location   Tempe, AZ

Matching Funders   Arizona State University and New Mexico State University

Highly-perishable produce is usually shipped across long distances. Without information about current and future market demand, some farmers produce a surplus of food that is wasted. Producers need more efficient supply chains to ensure quality fresh food reaches consumers. Arizona State University and New Mexico State University researchers are developing market intelligence and supply chain planning tools that enable growers to predict consumer demand and sell directly to consumers. The tool helps farmers reach the right markets at the right time.

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Research: Elizabeth Ainsworth

Year Awarded  2019

Total award amount   $100,000

Location   Washington, DC

Matching Funders   Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Dr. Elizabeth Ainsworth, a U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service researcher and adjunct professor at the School of Integrative Biology at the University of Illinois, is the 2019 recipient of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences. Ainsworth’s pioneering research focuses on how the world will eat in the face of climate change and other threats.  

Protecting Soil Health and Food Safety in Almond Orchards

Year Awarded  2018

FFAR award amount   $225

Total award amount   $450

Location   Davis, CA

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   Almond Board of California, Crown Nut Company, Ples Due Family Farms and Westwind Farms, Inc.

UC Davis researchers are examining advanced harvesting practices that improve soil health and ensure food safety. The research team is testing methods of catching almond fruit in above-ground mechanical frames that do not disturb topsoil and allow growers to use the hulls as fertilizer.

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research: Rodolphe Barrangou

Year Awarded  2018

Total award amount   $100,000

Location   Raleigh, NC

Matching Funders   Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou was awarded the 2018 National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research for pioneering research establishing CRISPR as the adaptive immune system of bacteria, a discovery which promoted the practical use of CRISPR-Cas systems for genome editing.

FFAR Fellows Program 2018 Cohort

Year Awarded  2018

Matching Funders   North Carolina State University

A unique three-year fellowship that prepares up to 48 graduate students to be the next generation of food and agriculture scientists by using an interdisciplinary approach to career readiness. Fellows work with university and industry representatives, as well as their peers, to conduct urgent research and engage in professional development.