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

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475 Grants found

Outcome-Based Identification of Best Agronomic Practices to Reduce N Footprint in Agroecosystems

Accelerating Coffee Breeding Through Developing Tools to Screen for Critical Disease & Pest Resistance 

International Lettuce Genomics Consortium 4: Pre-competitive Foundational Research for Lettuce Breeding

Reducing the Carbon Footprint of U.S. Beef Cattle Production – a Texas Pilot Program

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Ten H5N1 Risk to Swine Research Awards 

Year Awarded  2025

Total award amount   $2,100,000

Location   Manhattan, KS

Program   H5N1 Risk to Swine Research Program

Grantee Institution   Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) and Pork Checkoff

The U.S. pork industry has made prevention and preparedness for H5N1 influenza a top priority due to the virus' recent expansion into novel species, including dairy cattle and a backyard pig. These awards address this priority by enhancing prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response capabilities for H5N1 influenza. Specifically, the projects focus on transmission within and across species, vaccine development and surveillance. A full list of research projects is available on the SHIC website.

Exploring the Benefits of Integrating the Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) Trait into Winter Wheat to Enhance Nitrogen Use Efficiency: Establishing BNI in Winter Wheat & Developing a Comprehensive Nitrogen Assessment Platform for Global Potential

Year Awarded  2025

FFAR award amount   $1,932,367

Total award amount   $14,492,754

Location   Texcoco, Mexico

Matching Funders   Novo Nordisk Foundation

Grantee Institution   CIMMYT

The biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) trait has the potential to improve nitrogen use efficiency and soil health by stabilizing nitrogen reserves within the root zone of crops. This project seeks to introduce the BNI trait into winter wheat using next generation breeding technologies that reduce generation time, conserve resources and increase the number of generations per year. The goal is to deliver winter wheat with improved nitrogen use efficiency, high yield and adaptability. In addition, the researchers are developing a comprehensive platform to better measure and assess nitrogen cycling, helping to determine the BNI trait’s contribution to improving nitrogen use efficiency in wheat production systems.

Kernza® Supply Chain from Farm to Fork: Building Systems to Trace the Ecological, Nutritional and Community Benefits of Kernza® Production in Fields and Food Products 

Year Awarded  2025

FFAR award amount   $986,462

Total award amount   $2,003,394

Location   Moundridge, KS

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   Wichita State University, 40 Century Grain, Inc., Merge Impact, NETZRO, Saltine Food, Colorado Malting Co, Denver Distillery LLC, Easy Modular Manufacturing, Sustain-A-Grain, Inc., Service Press, Artisan Naan Bakery, Boot Hill Distillery, LLC, Farmer Direct Foods, Sandhills Brewing, Midland Railroad Hotel, The FARM and The Odd Fellows, Smoky Valley Distillery, Prairy, The Land Institute, Perennial Agriculture Project, Perennial Spirits.

Grantee Institution   Sustain-A-Grain

Food and beverage companies have expressed interest in Kernza, which became commercially available in 2016; however, demand for Kernza supply chain has remained small over the last decade and has yet to reach the scale needed for broader adoption. Sustain-A-Grain researchers are developing a traceable supply chain framework for Kernza to aid grain producers and food companies.

FFAR Research Aims to Protect Dairy Cattle Against H5N1 

Year Awarded  2025

FFAR award amount   $150,000

Total award amount   $301,562

Location   West Lafayette, IN

Program   Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research

Matching Funders   Purdue University

Grantee Institution   Purdue University

H5N1 in dairy cattle decreases milk production and milk quality, causing significant economic losses for farmers. The recent detection of H5N1 in humans, dairy cows and non-traditional host birds indicates that this virus poses new threats to other non-avian species. Purdue University researchers are using knowledge gained from prior work on influenza A viruses and a bovine adenoviral vaccine platform to develop a universal influenza vaccine for cows that is expected to be effective against further viral mutations.

Advancing Soil Carbon Solutions through an Ecosystem Modeling and Data Consortium

Year Awarded  2025

FFAR award amount   $1,500,000

Total award amount   $3,000,000

Location   Fort Collins, CO

Matching Funders   Colorado State University, Soil Carbon Solutions Center

Grantee Institution   Colorado State University 

Colorado State University’s Ecosystem Modeling and Data Consortium is building an open, community-driven platform to advance ecosystem models and critical soil and greenhouse gas data, improving access, transparency and usability across the sector. The consortium brings together researchers, nonprofits, industry, and policy stakeholders to support rigorous soil carbon and greenhouse gas accounting while reducing barriers to data and model adoption. 

FFAR Vet Fellows Seventh Cohort 

Year Awarded  2025

Total award amount   $16,000 per student

Location   Washington, D.C.

Matching Funders   American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC)

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) announced the 15 recipients of the 2025 Veterinary Student Research Fellowships (Vet Fellows) in partnership with the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC). This fellowship creates opportunities for veterinary students to pursue research on global food security and sustainable animal production.

Unearthing Maize Genes for Enhanced Nitrogen Use Efficiency & AMF Synergy 

Year Awarded  2025

FFAR award amount   $999,996

Total award amount   $2,196,825

Location   St. Louis, MO

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Pennsylvania State University, Valent BioSciences LLC

Grantee Institution   Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Industrial farming relies on large applications of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. However, a significant portion of fertilizer is not used by the plants, which costs producers money and can affect soil and water health. Donald Danforth Plant Science Center researchers are exploring the impacts of deep rooted corn, and the symbiotic relationship between corn and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, both of which can increase the reach of corn roots.

Accelerating Perennial Crop Development Through Phenomic & Genomic Selection Applied in Pre-breeding & Advanced Breeding Stages 

Year Awarded  2025

FFAR award amount   $1,000,000

Total award amount   $2,926,098

Location   St. Louis, MO

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Kansas State University, The Land Institute, Perennial Agriculture Project, Saint Louis University

Grantee Institution   Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Farming annual crops, like wheat and corn, requires high input costs and can degrade soil over time. Perennial crops, however, have deep roots that can lower farming costs by conserving nutrients and water. Still, few herbaceous perennial species have been domesticated for large-scale agricultural production. Donald Danforth Plant Science Center researchers aim to optimize and expedite the domestication of perennials by developing strategies for screening potential breeding candidates at early life stages.

Accelerating Coffee Breeding Through Developing Tools to Screen for Critical Disease & Pest Resistance 

Year Awarded  2025

FFAR award amount   $752,946

Total award amount   $1,554,198

Location   Portland, OR

Matching Funders   World Coffee Research

Grantee Institution   World Coffee Research

Coffee breeders need faster, lower-cost ways to identify plants that can withstand major diseases and pests. This project is developing genetic screening tools that help researchers spot disease-resistant traits earlier, creating a new set of genetic markers for robusta coffee and training breeders around the world to use these tools in their own programs. By making breeding more precise and efficient, the research can shorten the time it takes to develop stronger, more productive coffee varieties and help researchers respond more quickly to changing growing conditions. That can lower production risk, reduce losses from disease and pests and support a more stable coffee supply.

Development of a Vaccine for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) Virus in Cattle 

Year Awarded  2025

FFAR award amount   $139,031

Total award amount   $278,163

Location   Ames, IA

Program   Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research

Matching Funders   Genvax Technologies

Grantee Institution   Genvax Technologies

The current H5N1 virus has spread for the first time to dairy cows, with no preventative measures available to protect U.S. herds. With a ROAR grant, Genvax Technologies is developing an H5N1 vaccine for dairy cows. They will also use diagnostic tools to differentiate between infected and vaccinated cows and conduct experiments to confirm that these diagnostic tools are effective in calves.