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

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430 Grants found

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Crops in Silico 1.0

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $273,138

Total award amount   $601,126

Location   Urbana-Champaign, IL

Matching Funders   The Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment at the University of Illinois, NCSA

Grantee Institution   University of Illinois

Environments are changing faster than traditional crop breeding can develop new plant varieties. University of Illinois researchers are developing virtual plant models with the potential to address gaps between food supply and demand in the face of a changing climate. When fully realized, these models will give crop researchers a tool to examine the effects of environmental challenges on a molecular, cellular and organic level within a plant to accurately determine the best targets for genetic engineering.

Cover Crop Germplasm and Breeding in Support of New Cultivar Development Award Agreement

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $2,200,000

Total award amount   $6,600,000

Location   Admore, OK

Matching Funders   Noble Foundation

Grantee Institution   Noble Research Institute

Poor soil quality leads to an inadequate supply of nutrients, weeds and soil erosion. Cover crops can improve soil health.  Noble Foundation researchers are identifying and using advanced breeding to introduce key traits that improve cover crop performance and improve soil health.

Consumer Understanding of Advances in Animal Welfare

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $50,000

Total award amount   $100,000

Location   West Lafayette, IN

Matching Funders   Food Marketing Institute Foundation and the Animal Agriculture Alliance

Grantee Institution   Purdue University

Consumers are demanding cage-free egg production and slow-growth broiler chickens and farmers, ranchers and agricultural businesses are responding. However, producers must first understand consumer knowledge, beliefs and willingness-to-pay for these attributes. Purdue University researchers are employing choice modeling techniques to estimate diversity in consumer preferences and willingness-to-pay for cage-free eggs and slow-growth broilers now and in the future.

Closing the Gap in Delivery of Fruit and Vegetable Benefits

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $999,716

Total award amount   $2,005,846

Location   Raleigh, NC

Matching Funders   Dole Foods Company, Standard Process Inc., NC State University

Grantee Institution   NC State University

An estimated 87 percent of Americans do not eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables per day. North Carolina State University researchers are identifying breeding practices to improve the nutritional density of common fruits and vegetables in consumer products. This research is helping food companies develop products that more effectively deliver the health benefits of fruits and vegetables.

Breakthroughs 2030: Developing and Implementing a New Strategy for Food and Agricultural Research

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $371,500

Total award amount   $745,000

Location   Arlington, VA

Matching Funders   SoAR

Grantee Institution   Supporters of Agriculture Research

The scientific community needed a food and agricultural research strategy to identity scientific opportunities for the next decade and beyond. National Academy of Sciences researchers identified the five most important initiatives that need to be addressed by food and agriculture research.

Diet, the human gastrointestinal microbiome and metabolic health

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $299,744

Total award amount   $599,488

Location   Urbana-Champaign, IL

Matching Funders   The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Grantee Institution   University of Illinois

The microbiome in human guts and diet are linked to public health issues including obesity, liver disease and diabetes. While the microbiome is susceptible to changes in diet, there is a dearth of knowledge on how specific foods effect microbiome and how diet and the microbiome are related to disease treatment and prevention. University of Illinois researchers are furthering general understanding of how foods impacts health. The project is providing information that will help consumers to make healthful food choices.

Developing Massively Parallel Sequence for Agricultural Surveillance

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $169,960

Total award amount   $339,969

Location   Starkville, MS

Matching Funders   Mississippi State University

Grantee Institution   Mississippi State University

Global commerce has increased the introduction of exotic plant pathogens and pests to new areas. Farmers need a reliable system to detect newly introduced pests and pathogens. Mississippi State University researchers are combining existing technologies with novel data analysis to detect diverse plant pathogens and insects of importance in row crop, orchard and forestry settings, which will help protect agricultural systems.

Defining Stressors to Manage Plasticity & Quality in Leafy Greens

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $994,035

Total award amount   $1,989,030

Location   Newark, NJ

Matching Funders   AeroFarms

Grantee Institution   Aerofarms

While current plant breeding research focuses on adapting plants to their environments, AeroFarms, Rutgers University and Cornell University, are investigating how to harness environmental conditions indoors to improve characteristics in plants. The project is improving the quality, taste and nutrition of leafy greens crops.

Enhancing Animal Protein through Crops and Cattle

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $1,000,000

Total award amount   $2,402,000

Location   Lincoln, NE

Matching Funders   UNL Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Platte River-High Plains Aquifer

Grantee Institution   University of Nebraska

The availability of land for livestock foraging has decreased as farms move toward monocultures. University of Nebraska researchers are integrating livestock and crop production systems. Researchers are investigating various outputs including yields, soil health, greenhouse gas emissions and the economic feasibility of adopting these new practices to improving land use efficiency.

Fostering Innovative, Sustainable Urban Farming Methods to Meet Food Needs

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $294,988

Total award amount   $590,189

Location   Berkeley, CA

Matching Funders   The Regents of the University of California

Grantee Institution   University of California Berkely

Ensuring urban agriculture can sustainably feed urban populations in the future requires understanding current urban agriculture challenges from a policy and systems perspective. University of California, Berkeley researchers are improving the sustainability and resilience of urban farms by building soil health, conserving water and promoting beneficial insects. The project will also evaluate the effectiveness of existing food access and food distribution methods for meeting food needs of urban food insecure communities and develop policy recommendations in collaboration with community stakeholders.