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

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457 Grants found

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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Perennial Grain Staple Foods Program 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $448,928

Total award amount   $657,514

Location   Salina, KS

Matching Funders   The Land Institute

Grantee Institution   The Land Institute

Perennial grains, which are planted once and harvested over several growing seasons, help preserve soil health and add variety to our food supply, decreasing risks from extreme weather, pests and pathogens. Craine and the Land Institute are working with stakeholders from local communities and industry, as well as farmers, chefs and consumers, to introduce perennial grains into our agricultural system. Research priorities include making grains edible, nutritious and appealing and building supply chains from farms to plates.

FFAR Fellows Program 2024 Cohort 

Year Awarded  2024

Location   Raleigh, NC

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.

Grant Improves Stress Tolerance in Carrots 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $500,000

Total award amount   $1,000,000

Location   Davis, CA

Matching Funders   Bayer, Bejo Zaden, Enza Zaden, Rijk Zwaan, Takii Seed Vilmorin Mikado

Grantee Institution   University of California, Davis

Carrot growers face a variety of both climate and biological threats, including water access and diseases such as Alternaria leaf blight (Alternaria), a disease that can reduce yield by 40-60%. Some cultivated carrots are partially resistant to Alternaria but still require frequent fungicide applications to fully protect crops from this disease. University of California, Davis researchers are tapping into the genetic diversity of wild carrots to breed Alternaria resistance and the ability to grow in water-deficient conditions into cultivated carrots.

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

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $138,888

Total award amount   $277,777

Location   Arlington, VA

Program   AgMission

Matching Funders   The Nature Conservancy

Grantee Institution   The Nature Conservancy

This AgMission grant is evaluating cover crop adoption and identifying the factors leading to their successful, long-term use in the Midwestern United States.

Pangenome-based Identification of Genetic Variants Conferring Stress Resistance in Tomato Wild Relatives, and Efficient Transfer to Cultivated Tomato 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $994,561

Total award amount   $2,063,835

Location   Ithaca, NY

Matching Funders   Meiogenix

Grantee Institution   Boyce Thompson Institute

Tomatoes are an important economic and nutritional crop, but they are vulnerable to stresses from extreme weather and disease, which puts food security and farmers’ profits at risk. This research is harnessing wild tomatoes’ genetic diversity to improve cultivated tomato varieties. The research is focusing on resistance to drought and early blight disease, two significant challenges facing tomato growers worldwide.

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

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $280,503

Total award amount   $561,006

Location   Davis, CA

Matching Funders   Bayer, Bejo Zaden, Enza Zaden, Nunhems Netherlands, Rijk Zwaan, Sakata Seed, Syngenta, Tanimura and Antle, Vilmorin

Grantee Institution   University of California, Davis

Lettuce downy mildew and INSV are the two most destructive foliar diseases of lettuce. The fourth iteration of the International Lettuce Genomics Consortium project will analyze phenotypic and genomic data of lettuce and these two pathogens, including natural variants that confer greater pathogen virulence, to develop resources for enhancing the durability of disease resistance in lettuce. The project will also participate in assembling the lettuce pangenome, a comprehensive dataset that captures genetic variation within wild and cultivated lettuce species and is available for lettuce improvement.

Applied Innovation of Myoinositol to Improve Cattle Fertility & Sustainability of Cattle Production Systems 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $352,936

Total award amount   $705,871

Location   Knoxville, TN

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture

Grantee Institution   University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture

This study is testing whether the supplement myoinositol, known to enhance fertility in women, can improve egg quality and embryo development in cattle when added in the lab or given directly to donor cows. By increasing fertilization, embryo viability and pregnancy rates, the research aims to make in vitro embryo production (IVP) more successful, overcoming current challenges with poor egg quality.

Transforming Dairy Cattle Lameness Management through a Combination of Artificial Intelligence-Powered Video Analytics & Genomic, Epidemiological & Extension Approaches 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $1,000,000

Total award amount   $2,000,000

Location   St. Paul, MN

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   CattleEye LTD, CATTLEytics, the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding and Kinder Ground

Grantee Institution   University of Minnesota

Researchers are combining advanced data analysis of farm records, hoof health history and genetic information with autonomous cameras to better understand the impact, causes and detection of lameness in dairy cows to help farms breed cows less prone to it. Lameness caused by hoof lesions remains one of the most costly and persistent animal welfare issues on U.S dairy farms, affecting cow health and productivity and farm profitability.

Decreasing Pulmonary-Associated Mortality in Feedlot Cattle Using Refined Case Definitions & Predictive Analytics, Emphasizing Acute Interstitial Pneumonia & Late Day BRD 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $1,223,474

Total award amount   $2,446,948

Location   Manhattan, KS

Matching Funders   Colorado State University, Innovative Livestock Services, Five Rivers Cattle Feeding K-State Mississippi State University, Nanostring, Texas A&M University and Veterinary Research & Consulting Services

Grantee Institution   Kansas State University

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD), commonly called “shipping fever,” is a serious animal welfare concern and costs U.S. ranchers about $900 million annually. BRD infected cattle generally die from late day pulmonary disease triggered by secondary bacterial diseases, like acute interstitial pneumonia. A multi-disciplinary team is researching how to prevent late day pulmonary disease from developing in these cattle to provide veterinarians and producers with information to make informed prevention and treatment decisions and help the beef industry use antibiotics more judiciously.

FoodShot Global Challenge #4 Water GroundBreaker Prize (United Kingdom) 

Year Awarded  2024

Total award amount   80,000

Location   London, United Kingdom

Program   FoodShot Global Challenge

Matching Funders   Builders Initiative, FoodShot Global, The Rockefeller Foundation

Grantee Institution   ThinkAqua

FoodShot Global is a collaboration between venture funds, banks, corporations, universities and foundations to improve our food system. This research creates networked clusters around locally owned hubs that provide farmers with market access, inputs and technical support. The initiative addresses small-scale farmers’ needs by ensuring a ready market for tilapia, producing high-quality seed fish and reducing production costs by using fish feed from Black Soldier Fly larvae, which also serve as organic fertilizer.