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

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106 Grants found

Dr. James C. Schnable Awarded 2026 NAS Prize in Food & Agriculture Sciences

FFAR Fellows Program 2025 Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Seventh Cohort

Dr. Hans Coetzee Awarded 2025 NAS Prize in Food & Agriculture Sciences

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

Exploring Novel Promoter Alleles for Multiple Vitamin Biofortification Using a Calli-Derived Somatic Embryo Platform

Electrochemically Assisted Biological Nitrogen Fixation for Distributed & Sustainable Fertilizer Production

Understanding Plant Parasitic Nematode Virulence Mechanisms: A Valuable Approach to Expedite Breeding Durable & Broad-spectrum Crop Resistance

Novel Biobased Antiviral Treatments for Bee Pollinator Health

Developing Multifunctional & Durable Agro-based Food Packaging to Reduce Toxic Plastic Waste & Sustainably Advance a Bioeconomy

Water & Soil Sustainability for Nutritious Rice Production

Perennial Grain Staple Foods Program

FFAR Fellows Program 2024 Cohort

Major enhancement of U.S. swine industry preparedness and responses to large-scale infectious foreign animal diseases through harmonizing biosecurity plans and advancing interpretable machine learning

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FFAR Vet Fellows Sixth Cohort

FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellowship First Cohort

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Kirchner Food Fellowship HBCU 2023-2024 Cohort

Kirchner Food Fellowship Inaugural HBCU Cohort (2021-22)

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FFAR Vet Fellows Fifth Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Fourth Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Third Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Second Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Inaugural Cohort

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National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research: Huaijun Zhou

The Revitalization of Indigenous Crops in the Southwest

Developing circular urban food systems for a rapidly growing desert city

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Big Data to Improve and Sustain Wheat End-Use Quality in the Face of Increasingly Variable Climate Scenarios

Evaluating the use of calcium silicate amendments to manage the bioavailability of organic carbon in agricultural soils

Advancing the Design and Fabrication of Biopolymer-based Nanocomposites for Sustainable Food Packaging

Using a novel RNA therapy to tackle dual threat of tomato spotted wilt virus, a pandemic agricultural pathogen and its supervector, thrips

Harnessing mycorrhizal-microbial synergies for agricultural resilience and health

Establish Power-to-Food by Cultivating and Processing Hydrogenotrophic Single Cells to Design New Sustainable Protein Supply Chains Without Arable Land

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Next-Generation Carbon Capture for Agricultural Crop Applications

Orthogonal Nano-Engineering (ONE) for Rational Design of Food Contact Surfaces

Establishing Viable Organic Orchard Crop Systems for the Northeast U.S.

Kirchner Food Fellowship HBCU 2022-23 Cohort

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research: David Lobell

Recycling nutrients for robust agricultural supply chains

Next-generation phenotyping and genomics for identifying, breeding, and managing more sustainable beef cattle

A Big Data Tool for Urban Tree Crop Selection Under Climate Change

Leveraging Phasic Environment and Nutrient Solution Management to Improve Resource Use Efficiency of Indoor Vertical Farming

Enabling sustainable soil and water management through microbe-powered RF soil sensing

Agroecosystem responses to climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity in the United States and Latin America

Targeted On-Demand Disease Management Practices/Therapies

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research: Rodolphe Barrangou

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Establishing Predictive Genomics to Improve Pollinator Health

Holistic Irrigation Strategies for Climate-Smart Agriculture

Tribal Agriculture Fellowship Inaugural Cohort

Reinvigorating Soybean Yield for 21st Century Agriculture

Understanding the roots of soil health

Enhancing the sustainability of finfish aquaculture to increase production and public acceptance

Digging deeper: Removing the barriers to soil compaction mitigation

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Fermentation to unlock the potential of underutilized Indigenous plants – an integrated traditional ecological knowledge innovation toward bio- and techno-functional benefits

Improving soil health by engineering a rhizobacterium to depend on a plant and stimulate its immune system

Creating a nitrogen fixing symbiont for cereal crops

Advancing Water Policy for Agricultural Sustainability

Building our understanding of soil health practice adoption through knowledge co-production with farmers

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research: Christina Grozinger

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research: Zachary Lippman

Field-deployable biosensors for managing animal health

A Multi-Scale Approach to Unearth the Root of Plant Disease Resistance

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An Integrative Approach to Biofortification of Staple Crops

Uncovering the Genetic Architecture of Inducible Chemical Defenses in Crop and Wild Sunflower for the Sustainable Control of Pests and Pathogens

Engineering crops for cultivation in controlled environments

Developing Novel Strategies for Improved Control and Sustainability of Grapevine Bunch Rot Management

Harnessing the soil microbiome to increase soil health and plant productivity

Kirchner Food Fellowship 2020-21 Cohort

Kirchner Food Fellowship 2019-20 Cohort

Kirchner Food Fellowship 2018-19 Cohort

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Metagenomic Probes for the Rapid Identification of the Microbiome Community in A Wheat Rhizospheremodel System

A Systematic Approach to Improve Heifer Selection and the Sustainability of Beef Production.

Improving the Nutritional Quality of Tomatoes

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

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Research: Elizabeth Ainsworth

Towards Production of Residue-Free Healthy Fruit Crops

Optimizing Water Use in Agriculture by Stacking Conservation Practices

Innovations in the Food Supply Chain to Reduce Food Waste

Harnessing Endophytes to Improve Crop Efficiency and Production

Direct Linkage of Dietary Components with Metabolizers in the Microbiota

Effects of Asymptomatic Listeriosis on Dairy Cattle Fecal Microbiota

Developing CRISPR-Cpf1 Genome Editing Technologies for Crop Improvement

A Coupled Natural-Human System Approach to Solving Locust Plagues

Using Active Organic Matter Tests to Help Predict Crop Nutrient Needs

Plant-Nanoparticle Hybrids: Optimize Crop Engineering and Nutrient Delivery

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

Individually-targeted incentives, diet quality and health outcomes among adults

Innovation at the Nexus of Computational, Membrane and Plant Biology

Diet, the human gastrointestinal microbiome and metabolic health

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Developing Massively Parallel Sequence for Agricultural Surveillance

A Novel Bioassay for Culturing and Characterizing Fastidious Phytopathogens

Using Eye Tracking to Better Understand Food Choices

Going Back to the Roots To Transform Soil Health into Yield

Advances in Water Limited Irrigation Management

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Enhancing Crop Pollination, Pest Control and Yield in Urban Agriculture

Building Soil Health Through Rotational Diversity and Soil Microorganisms

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Next-Generation Carbon Capture for Agricultural Crop Applications 

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $450,000

Location   La Jolla, CA

Grantee Institution   The Scripps Research Institute

The enzyme RuBisCo plays a key role in photosynthesis as it binds directly to carbon dioxide. Dr. Ahmed Badran’s lab developed RuBisCo alternatives that improve photosynthetic efficiency, and the research team is aiming to apply these alternative enzymes to a variety of crops. By increasing photosynthetic efficiency, the researcher hopes to increase crops’ growth rate, yield and tolerance to high temperatures and drought.

Award Winner

Orthogonal Nano-Engineering (ONE) for Rational Design of Food Contact Surfaces 

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $448,141

Total award amount   $541,173

Location   Blacksburg, VA

Matching Funders   Virginia Tech

Grantee Institution   Virginia Tech

In food processing and packaging environments, food contact surfaces often harbor microbes, compromising food safety and quality. Dr. Yifan Cheng is advancing nanoengineering and enhancing knowledge of these interactions to develop surfaces with nanostructures that disrupt bacterial cell walls upon contact, effectively killing bacteria without using biocides or sanitizers.

Award Winner

Establishing Viable Organic Orchard Crop Systems for the Northeast U.S. 

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $449,841

Location   Kutztown, PA

Grantee Institution   Rodale Institute

In many temperate, humid climates, perennial crop production has focused on fruits such as apples and peaches, which are increasingly at risk from climate change, pests and pathogens. Dr. Leigh Archer is examining the viability of alternative, low-input perennials for the Northeast, such as hazelnuts, which can better withstand climate and pest threats and provide diversity to Northeastern U.S. agriculture.

Award Winner

FFAR Vet Fellows Fourth Cohort 

Year Awarded  2022

Total award amount   $10,000 per student

Location   Washington, D.C.

Matching Funders   American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC)

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) announced the 13 recipients of the 2022 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.

Kirchner Food Fellowship HBCU 2022-23 Cohort 

Year Awarded  2022

Location   Jacksonville, FL & Washington, D.C.

Matching Funders   The Kirchner Impact Foundation

The Kirchner Food Fellowship, an initiative of the Kirchner Impact Foundation, announced the fellows for the second Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) cohort. As a pioneering program in developing the next generation of venture capital in food and agriculture, the program launched the dedicated HBCU cohort to help address the lack of diversity within the venture capital sector.

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research: David Lobell 

Year Awarded  2022

Total award amount   $100,000

Location   Stanford, CA

Matching Funders   Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Grantee Institution   Stanford University

Dr. David Lobell was awarded the 2022 National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research for his groundbreaking work advancing the world’s understanding of the effects of climate variability and change on global crop productivity.

Award Winner

FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellowship First Cohort 

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $250,000

Total award amount   $500,000

Location   Washington, D.C.

Matching Funders   OCP North America

The FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellows Program fosters disruptive innovation in the next generation of fertilizer research and development through a research challenge, whereby emerging young researchers can enhance their efforts in fertilizer efficiency research and technology development. These research projects address the need for increasing plant uptake of essential macronutrients and limiting the loss of inputs – which contribute largely to water and marine ecosystem damage – while boosting productivity.

Recycling nutrients for robust agricultural supply chains 

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $450,000

Location   Beltsville, MD

This research is developing a Manureshed Action Research Cycle to build regional and supply-chain resilience through systematic recycling of manure nutrients onto beef, dairy, poultry and swine feed crops. This research integrates social and biophysical science with stakeholder engagement to give animal producers, farmers and ranchers better capacity to connect with each other to redistribute manure nutrients from farms with manure surplus to fields and pastures that can use it sustainably.

Award Winner

Next-generation phenotyping and genomics for identifying, breeding, and managing more sustainable beef cattle 

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $449,964

Location   Knoxville, TN

Grantee Institution   University of Tennessee

The beef industry faces pressure to reduce its environmental footprint and help combat climate change but increasing sustainability presents a complex challenge. This research leverages machine learning, high throughput phenotyping, and genomics to measure and predict sustainability-related traits like water use, forage intake, and methane emission. Additionally, the project will use genomic approaches to identify genes and genetic networks affecting sustainability traits.

Award Winner

A Big Data Tool for Urban Tree Crop Selection Under Climate Change 

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $449,936

Location   Davis, CA

Grantee Institution   University of California Davis

The impacts of climate change on urban tree crops and productions are largely unknown, posing a significant threat to urban farming efforts and their future resilience and sustainability. This research is leveraging big data to create novel scientific evidence on the climate suitability and vulnerability of dozens of urban tree crop species across the U.S.

Award Winner