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

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426 Grants found

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FFAR Grant Develops Mitigation Tactics for Cocoa Frosty Pod Rot

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $100,000

Total award amount   $248,167

Location   Turrialba, Costa Rica

Matching Funders   CATIE, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique Pour le Dévelopement (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development), Departamento de Cacao de la República Dominicana (Dominican Republic Department of Cacao), VMR Consulting and in-kind donors

Grantee Institution   Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE)- grantee name is in english on bbgm

Cocoa is the central ingredient in chocolate and used in numerous products. A devastating pathogen, frosty pod rot, is compromising the cocoa industry in continental America, having recently reached the Caribbean. If not managed properly, the pathogen can cause yield losses of up to 80%, compromising farmer profits and jeopardizing an important U.S. import. Led by Dr. Mariela Leandro, Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) researchers are identifying disease control tactics.

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

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $494,956

Location   Davis, CA

Program   Egg-Tech Prize

Matching Funders   Open Philanthropy

Grantee Institution   SenseIT Ventures, Inc.

Commercially, chicks can only be sexed after they hatch, requiring producers to devote time and resources to incubating male chicks, only to cull them. Yearly, over six billion male layer chicks are culled when hatched because there is no commercial use for them. This research team is continuing development of an innovative microchip-based chemical sensor that captures volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from individual eggs as early as eight days into incubation. Machine learning can interpret the VOCs to classify eggs by gender. This research is supporting the integration of microchip sensors with a custom automated egg handling machine that sorts the sexed eggs.

High-throughput in-ovo sexing of chicken eggs using hyperspectral imaging & Raman spectroscopy

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $499,331

Location   De Klomp, The Netherlands

Program   Egg-Tech Prize

Matching Funders   Open Philanthropy

Grantee Institution   HatchTech Group

Commercially, chicks can only be sexed after they hatch, requiring producers to devote time and resources to incubating male chicks, only to cull them. Yearly, over six billion male layer chicks are culled when hatched because there is no commercial use for them. This research team is using hyperspectral imaging and Raman spectroscopy to develop a commercially applicable optical technique for sexing hatching eggs by extracting and analyzing small droplets of the embryos’ allantoic fluid at the eighth day of incubation.

Project Ella

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $495,990

Location   Leiden, The Netherlands

Program   Egg-Tech Prize

Matching Funders   Open Philanthropy

Grantee Institution   In Ovo

Commercially, chicks can only be sexed after they hatch, requiring producers to devote time and resources to incubating male chicks, only to cull them. Yearly, over six billion male layer chicks are culled when hatched because there is no commercial use for them. This research is further developing and scaling in-ovo sexing technology that measures a naturally occurring biomarker within the embryos’ waste fluid. This fluid differs between the sexes, allowing sorting the eggs by sex on the ninth day of development with high accuracy.

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

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $300,000

Total award amount   $633,462

Location   Lubbock, TX

Matching Funders   Genus ABS, Hy-Plains Feedyard, LLC, Texas Tech University, Veterinary Research & Consulting Services, LLC

Grantee Institution   Texas Tech University

Liver abscesses in cattle are a significant problem for beef and dairy cow producers, jeopardizing animals’ health and costing producers approximately $30 million annually. The condition occurs when bacteria cross from an animal’s gastrointestinal tract into the bloodstream and accumulate in the liver. This research is investigating genetic markers and biomarkers that contribute to the formation of liver abscesses to allow producers to make more informed breeding and management decisions to reduce susceptibility in cattle and reduce reliance on antimicrobial treatments.

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

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $300,000

Total award amount   $600,340

Location   Canyon, TX

Matching Funders   West Texas A&M University

Grantee Institution   West Texas A&M University

Liver abscesses in cattle are a significant problem for beef and dairy cow producers, jeopardizing animals’ health and costing producers approximately $30 million annually. The condition occurs when bacteria cross from an animal’s gastrointestinal tract into the bloodstream and accumulate in the liver. This research is evaluating liver abscess development in feedlot cattle reared in conventional beef versus dairy management systems to provide insight into liver abscess pathogenesis and identify biomarkers that assess the risk of liver abscessation.

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

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $248,641

Total award amount   $497,282

Location   Manhattan, KS

Matching Funders   Cargill, Kansas State University, Tyson Foods, United Animal Health

Grantee Institution   Kansas State University

Liver abscesses in cattle are a significant problem for beef and dairy cow producers, jeopardizing animals’ health and costing producers approximately $30 million annually. The condition occurs when bacteria cross from an animal’s gastrointestinal tract into the bloodstream and accumulate in the liver. This research is evaluating a comprehensive ‘biochemical fingerprinting’ in blood plasma collected from beef cattle with and without abscesses in the liver. Unique biomolecules in the blood of cattle with liver abscesses can help detect the onset and progression of liver abscesses and can aid evaluating antibiotic alternatives for prevention.

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

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   300000

Total award amount   600000

Location   Manhattan, KS

Matching Funders   Animal Welfare Consulting and Research, Cargill, Deer Creek Feeding, LLC, Hy-Plains Feedyard, LLC, Syracuse Dairy, Tyson Foods, Veterinary Research & Consulting Services, LLC

Grantee Institution   Kansas State University

Liver abscesses in cattle are a significant problem for beef and dairy cow producers, jeopardizing animals’ health and costing producers approximately $30 million annually. The condition occurs when bacteria cross from an animal’s gastrointestinal tract into the bloodstream and accumulate in the liver. It is commonly controlled by treating entire groups of animals with antibiotics – including healthy ones – because it is difficult to determine which animals are infected. This research is evaluating the associations between feeding and management practices of beef-on-dairy cattle for which it is commonly believed the rate of liver abscesses is two to three times greater than beef cattle crossed with other beef cattle.

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

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $124,948

Total award amount   $249,911

Location   Manhattan, KS

Matching Funders   Kansas State University, Beef Marketing Research, Cactus Research, Five Rivers Cattle Feeding, Hy-Plains Feedyard, Innovative Livestock Services, Veterinary Research & Consulting Services, Zoetis

Grantee Institution   Kansas State University

The livestock industry is plagued by bovine respiratory disease (BRD), an infectious condition that can spread through a herd and comprises an estimated 80% of antibiotic treatments. Kansas State University researchers are collecting data to improve understanding of how feedlot cattle are classified based on BRD risk. The data can be used to comprehensively assess health risks and interventions, and as a result, optimize health management strategies for specific cattle populations, improve animal well-being and encourage more efficient antimicrobial use.

Acoustic Monitoring to Support Mass Cattle Treatment Decisions

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $50,000

Total award amount   $104,128

Location   Atlanta, GA

Matching Funders   Cactus Research, Ergense, Five Rivers Cattle Feeding, McDonald’s Corporation, Veterinary Research & Consulting Services

Grantee Institution   Ergense Inc.

The livestock industry is plagued by bovine respiratory disease (BRD), an infectious condition that can spread through a herd and comprises an estimated 80% of antibiotic treatments. The standard procedure for cattle arriving at a feedlot is to isolate and observe them, after which workers decide if the entire pen should receive antibiotic treatment based on various animal health factors. To reduce treatment subjectivity, this research is developing an audio monitoring technique that uses machine learning to analyze acoustic signatures of animal vocalizations to inform the BRD treatment decision.