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

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94 Grants found

Row Crops to Perennial Pasture: Feeding the World, Conserving Water, Enhancing Soil and Safeguarding the Climate

Building Agroecosystem Soil Health to Adapt to Climate and Regulatory Realities while Protecting Rural Community Health

Leveraging multi-scale datasets and modeling tools for improved soil health and carbon management

Next-generation Sustainable Weed Management Enabled by Micro-targeted Legged Robots

Electrochemically Assisted Biological Nitrogen Fixation for Distributed & Sustainable Fertilizer Production

Determinants of Persistent Cover Crop Adoption and Dis-Adoption to Inform More Effective Farmer Incentives for Durable Adoption

FoodShot Global Challenge #4 Water GroundBreaker Prize (Indiana)

FoodShot Global Challenge #4 Water GroundBreaker Prize (Arizona)

Better Deal for Data

Advancing Knowledge and Adoption of Climate-Smart Practices in Semi-Arid Perennial Cropping Systems

UC Davis Receives FFAR Grant to Help Improve Vineyard Soil Health

Improving Soil Health on Vineyards

FFAR Awards Grant to Reduce Water Waste in Crop Irrigation

Protecting Soil Health & Food Safety in Almond Orchards

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Transforming Wastewater to Crop Fertilizer

Increasing Motivation and Promoting Persistence in Farmer Conservation

Novel Farmer-to-Farmer Learning Approaches to Cultivate a Culture of Conservation in the Mississippi River Basin

Equipping Conservation Professionals and Farmers with Tools to Deliver Edge of Field Practices

A Multi-Source Remote Sensing-Based Framework & Decision-Support Tool for Flash Droughts & Floods Under Climate Change

Scaling Quantified and Verified Soil Health, Climate and Natural Resources Outcomes from U.S. Agriculture in an Innovative Ecosystem Services Market Program

Using Solar Panels to Enhance Groundwater

Integrating On-farm Solar Arrays to Enhance Groundwater Resources, Produce Energy & Diversify Farm Income

Protecting Florida Corn from Tar Spot Outbreak

A Deeper Dive: Linking Below-Ground Soil & Water Quality with Above-Ground Productivity in Organic Systems to Enhance Economic Viability & Ecosystem Resiliency

Iowa State University Organic Agriculture Program (ISU OAP)

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Investigating the re-integration of organic food crops & animal production on above & belowground diversity, soil health, farm resilience & food safety.

Rodale Institution

Oregon Tilth

Oregon Tilth

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Kalona Regenerative Network Producer Education Training Program

A new methods of managing human waste for improved soil health, carbon sequestration, contaminant removal, and social acceptability

Increasing Water Productivity, Soil Carbon, and Sustainability of Integrated Multi-Crop Systems Using Field-Scale Research

Advancing DEI in Sharing Carbon & Ecosystems Services Information

Enhancing Tools to Model Climate and Environmental Impacts in Organic Agriculture Systems

University of Wisconsin-Madison Organic Grain Resource and Information Network

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Integration of Agroforestry as a Transformative Solution to Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Organic Farms

OATS (Organic Agronomy Training Service)

FoodShot Global Challenge #3 Bioactive Foods GroundBreaker Prize (Champaign, Illinois)

Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) Reinvestment

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Performance-Based Financing Models for Sustainable Water Management in the Great Lakes Basin

FoodShot Global Challenge #3 Bioactive Foods GroundBreaker Prize (Maryland)

FoodShot Global Challenge #3 Bioactive Foods GroundBreaker Prize (Massachusetts)

Expanding OpTIS, a remote sensing tool to accelerate soil health and climate-smart practices

Cotton-Based Precision Irrigation Improves Sustainability

Plant-Based Precision Irrigation Management for Improved System-Level Sustainability

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Tuskegee University Endowment

Grant Quantifies Farm Risk Mitigation Through Improved Soil Health

Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) Grazing Research in the U.S. Northern Great Plains

Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) Grazing Research in the U.S. Southeast

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Expanding development of a predictive model to quantify the risk reduction associated with specific soil health practices for use by private & public lenders & insurers to incentivize the transition to resilient, climate-smart agriculture

FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellowship First Cohort

Dairy, Soil & Water Regeneration Grant Promotes Integrated Research to Support Dairy Industry Commitment to Sustainability

U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative: Improving Dairy On-Farm Sustainability through Improved Soil Health and Manure Management

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Mapping Trees in Future Climates: Integrating Knowledge, Data and Tools to Enhance Agroforestry Adoption for Climate Resilience

Kansas State University Provides Data on Nitrogen Management Practices in the Great Plains

Nitrogen SAVings through soil hEalth (NSAVE): Leveraging regenerative agriculture to reduce nitrogen inputs, increase farmer profits & mitigate climate change

Quantifying the Advantages of Multi-Paddock (AMP) Grazing in the U.S. Southeast & Northern Great Plains

AgMission/Precision Conservation Management MOU

FFAR Grant Examines Management Practices Effect on Soil Health

FoodShot Global Challenge #2 Precision Protein, Deep Dive GroundBreaker Prize (South Carolina)

FFAR and OFRF Renew Partnership to Improve Soil Health Research

Irrigation Innovation Consortium Funds Seven Research Projects

FoodShot Global Challenge #1 Innovating Soil 3.0, Deep Dive GroundBreaker Prize (Colorado)

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New Crops ATLASS (Analytics Telenetwork: for Landscape, Agronomic, and Sociocultural Scalability)

FFAR & Rodale Institute Enhance Soil Health to Increase Crop Nutrients

OFRF and FFAR Fund Research to Enhance Organic Potato Nutrition

Conservation of an Endophytic Insect-pathogenic Fungus for Plant Protection in Organic Cropping Systems.

Cover Crops for Soil Health: Demonstration of On-Farm Trial

Biosolarization: Harnessing the Sun and Organic Matterfor Weed Control

FFAR Grant Examines Carbon Farming Effect on Soil Health

FFAR Grant Addressing Surface and Groundwater Pollution on Farms

Precision Irrigation Scheduling for Specialty Crops

FoodShot Global Challenge #1 Innovating Soil 3.0, Deep Dive GroundBreaker Prize (Maine)

FFAR Grant Provides Technical Training to Enhance Soil Health

Harnessing Multi-Trophic Chemical Ecology to Obtain Sustainable Pest Control and Improved Soil Health

FFAR and OFRF Promote Soil Health and Profits for Organic Farmers in the Northern Great Plains

FFAR and OFRF Award Two Grants That Tackle Soil Health Challenges

Prairie Strips for Healthy Soils and Thriving Farms

Improving Simulations of Water Dynamics and Crop Yield in the Corn Belt

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Assessing & Expanding Soil Health for Production, Economics, & the Environmental Benefits v2

Advanced Harvest Techniques Facilitate Food Safe Soil Health Practices in Almond Orchards

An Open Source Plant Chemogenomics Set

Going Back to the Roots To Transform Soil Health into Yield

Advances in Water Limited Irrigation Management

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Optimizing Water Use in Agriculture by Stacking Conservation Practices

FFAR Awards $9.4 Million to Spur Next Leap in Agriculture: Improved Soil Health to Optimize Economic and Environmental Results for U.S. Farmers

Using Active Organic Matter Tests to Help Predict Crop Nutrient Needs

Building Soil Health Through Rotational Diversity and Soil Microorganisms

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Scaling Quantified and Verified Soil Health, Climate and Natural Resources Outcomes from U.S. Agriculture in an Innovative Ecosystem Services Market Program 

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $5,150,000

Total award amount   $10,300,000

Location   Falls Church, VA 

Matching Funders   Ecosystem Services Market Consortium

Grantee Institution   Ecosystem Services Market Consortium

The agriculture sector contributes about 11% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, which impacts climate change. FFAR invested in the Ecosystem Services Market Consortium for research that creates sound social, economic and environmental outcomes to benefit producers, local communities, supply chain companies and consumers through the expansion of Eco-Harvest, an ecosystem services market program.

Integrating On-farm Solar Arrays to Enhance Groundwater Resources, Produce Energy & Diversify Farm Income 

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $881,526

Total award amount   $1,763,053

Location   Lawrence, KS

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc., Kansas State University, Michigan State University, Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Inc.

The High Plains Aquifer provides irrigation to support a $3.5 billion agricultural economy across eight states, but due to decades of groundwater extraction, water levels have fallen dangerously low across much of the aquifer. Researchers at the University of Kansas are studying the integration of solar panel arrays outfitted with rain collection gutters on farmland to recharge groundwater and provide marketable electricity to growers.

AgMission™ Funds Global Producers’ Consultation to Improve Climate-Smart Agriculture Adoption 

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $192,000

Total award amount   $394,000

Location   Rome, Italy

Program   AgMission

Matching Funders   McDonald’s, PepsiCo, The Nature Conservancy

Grantee Institution   World Farmers Organisation

This grant is developing a novel farmer-driven methodology to consult U.S. and global producers to collect unique data and insights on their climate-smart agriculture needs and expectations.

Protecting Florida Corn from Tar Spot Outbreak 

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $120,509

Total award amount   $241,537

Location   Gainesville, FL

Matching Funders   University of Florida

Grantee Institution   University of Florida

Tar spot is a rapidly spreading fungal disease caused primarily by Phyllachora maydis, a plant pathogen that infects corn and damages leaves. Tar spot reduces corn grain yield and overall crop quality and could become a severe epidemic on sweet corn. University of Florida researchers are identifying management strategies by developing an effective chemical control program and analyzing sweet corn hybrids that are resistant to tar spot. The research team is examining the genetic diversity of tar spot samples from Florida and comparing to those from the Midwest.

A Deeper Dive: Linking Below-Ground Soil & Water Quality with Above-Ground Productivity in Organic Systems to Enhance Economic Viability & Ecosystem Resiliency 

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $195,124

Location   Ames, IA

Matching Funders   The Organic Center

Grantee Institution   Iowa State University

Dr. Kathleen Delate is quantifying the optimal combinations of soil, greenhouse gas emissions and economic modeling for ecosystem health. She is comparing agricultural system management, manure management and alternative cropping systems. Delate plans to share her results with the farming community to encourage farmer participation in data collection and practice adoption. She is also training multi-cultural farmers on the identified practices to spur adoption of her research recommendations.

Investigating the re-integration of organic food crops & animal production on above & belowground diversity, soil health, farm resilience & food safety. 

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $199,256

Location   West Lafayette, IN

Matching Funders   The Organic Center

Grantee Institution   Purdue University

Dr. Moriah Bilenky is investigating how integrated cropping systems on organic fields can reduce input costs and enhance biodiversity above and below ground. Specifically, Bilenky and her team are investigating the impacts of adding small ruminants to an integrated cropping system on soil health, microbiome health and presence of food pathogens on vegetable farms. The researchers aim to identify integrated cropping system best practices and plan to disseminate educational materials to increase adoption of these practices.

Rodale Institution 

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $96,694

Location   Kutztown, PA

Matching Funders   The Organic Center

Grantee Institution   Rodale Institution

This Prize allows the Rodale Institute to expand its online educational portal to further reach and train farmers and agricultural professionals across the U.S. Specifically, the Institute is creating greater access to its online course “Transition to Certified Organic Agriculture” by translating it into Spanish, creating a scholarship program to provide free access to their online courses and expanding the types of courses offered.

Oregon Tilth 

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $63,173

Location   Corvallis, OR

Matching Funders   The Organic Center

Grantee Institution   Oregon Tilth

This 2023 Prize allows Oregon Tilth to train additional farmers and agriculture professionals in organic certification, organic regulations, production practices and profitability tools. The Prize also funds convenings for organic certifiers that explore ways to streamline linkages between the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service support and the organic certification process. Lastly, the Prize supports the Know Your Cost to Grow program, an online curriculum and cost calculation app developed to help producers develop and utilize cost information.

Kalona Regenerative Network Producer Education Training Program 

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $77,777

Location   Kalona, IA

Matching Funders   The Organic Center

Grantee Institution   Kalona Regenerative Network

Kalona Regenerative Network is educating farmers to use regenerative and organic farming methods to restore ecosystem health, grow more nutrient dense food and create profitable farms. With this Prize, KRN is offering organic certification in-house and implementing a pay-what-you-can and scholarship model for their Producer Education Program. The Prize also supports accessible education and guidance to help producers and consumers drive change within the U.S. food system.

A new methods of managing human waste for improved soil health, carbon sequestration, contaminant removal, and social acceptability 

Year Awarded  2022

Location   Brattelboro, VT

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   Cornell University, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, Rich Earth Institute, University of Michigan

Grantee Institution   Rich Earth Institute

Synthetic fertilizers accelerate crop growth and are commonly used in agriculture; however, these products contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, wastewater is also a source of pollution, and only a fraction of the vast quantity of nutrients flowing through modern wastewater treatment systems is captured for beneficial reuse. A significant portion of regional fertilizer needs could be met by reclaiming the nutrients present in wastewater. The Rich Earth Institute is producing biochar from wastewater material to potentially be used to develop safe, renewable fertilizers that enhance agricultural productivity, support soil health, reduce nutrient pollution and mitigate climate change through soil carbon sequestration.