Year Awarded 2024
FFAR award amount $4,500,000
Total award amount $9,000,000
Location Beltsville, MD
Matching Funders Bayer, Cornell University, Corteva, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, GoogleX, KWS, Limagrain Field Seeds
Grantee Institution USDA Agricultural Research Service
Grain production, including corn production, in the United States is highly efficient in terms of labor, cost and land, yet generates massive nitrogen losses that end up in our waterways and generate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to climate change, while costing farmers money. The CERCA (Circular Economy that Reimagines Corn Agriculture) project led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, along with 13 university research partners, is transforming corn production toward a goal of nitrogen circularity by developing corn genetics that both recycles nutrients to decrease fertilizer use and tolerates colder temperatures, so it can be planted earlier in the growing season when soil nitrogen is plentiful.