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

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425 Grants found

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Investing in our future: training taxonomists and wild bee conservation

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $546,511

Total award amount   $1,093,084

Location   Durham, NH

Program   Pollinator Health Fund

Matching Funders   Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research, UNH and UNH, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture

Grantee Institution   University of New Hampshire

The University of New Hampshire researchers are creating the first comprehensive guide to wild bees found in New England. The project is classifying wild New England bees and developing resources to further education, including information on regionally specific planting recommendations and a bee identification course applicable to researchers in multiple states.

Plant-Nanoparticle Hybrids: Optimize Crop Engineering and Nutrient Delivery

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $300,000

Total award amount   $600,000

Location   Berkeley, CA

Matching Funders   The Regents of the University of California

Grantee Institution   University of California Berkely

Genome editing has revolutionized our ability to modify living systems and meet the growing demand for food. However, genetic engineering of mature plants remains a challenge. The Regents of the University of California, Berkeley are optimizing crop engineering and nutrient delivery tools to produce sustainable and high-yielding crops.

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Research: Edward Buckler

Year Awarded  2017

Total award amount   $100,000

Location   Washington, D.C.

Matching Funders   Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Grantee Institution   National Academy of Sciences

Dr. Edward Buckler is the inaugural NAS Prize in Food & Agriculture Sciences recipient. Buckler, a U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service researcher and adjunct professor of plant breeding and genetics at Cornell University, studies the connection between a crop plant’s genetic makeup and the physical traits exhibited by different strains.

Stolen Kiss – an advanced breeding solution for the animal welfare trait of genetic castration

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $499,443

Total award amount   $514,675

Location   St. Paul, MN

Matching Funders   DNA Genetics LLC and Open Philanthropy Project

Grantee Institution   Recombinetics, Inc.

Male piglets are castrated to improve the quality of meat for consumers, but this practice is also a concerning animal welfare issue. Recombinetics/Acceligen and Hendrix Genetics are using a genome editing method to create swine that remain in a pre-pubertal state, thus eliminating the need for surgical castration. The project aims to eliminate the need for surgical castration and improve animal health, management and meat quality.

Shielding U.S. Palm Industries from the South American Palm Weevil Invasion

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $150,000

Total award amount   $300,000

Location   Riverside, CA

Program   Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research

Matching Funders   UCR, ISCA, California Date Commission, Bard Valley Medjool Data Growers Association

Grantee Institution   ISCA Technologies Inc.

The South American Palm Weevil is threatening California's palm trees and date palm trees. ISCA Technologies and UC Riverside researchers are developing environmentally-friendly pest controls to curb the spread of weevils.

Renewal: RIPE: Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency for Sustainable Increases in Crop Yield

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $15,000,000

Total award amount   $45,000,000

Location   Urbana-Champaign, IL

Matching Funders   Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID), University of Illinois

Grantee Institution   University of Illinois

Crops are inefficiently at photosynthesis, the process plants use to convert sunlight into energy. Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) is engineering staple food crops to more efficiently turn the sun’s energy into food to sustainably increase worldwide food productivity.

Using Active Organic Matter Tests to Help Predict Crop Nutrient Needs

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $221,541

Total award amount   $443,082

Location   Columbus, OH

Matching Funders   Ohio State University

Grantee Institution   Ohio State University

Standard soil testing can assess fertility in some fields but may fail in others. Soil organic matter, which provides a pivotal component of a healthy and functioning soil, is often neglected in fertility recommendations. Ohio State University researchers are bridging this gap by investigating three promising tests of soil active organic matter to provide insight into nutrient cycling and nutrient supply to crops. The project aims to alleviate some key obstacles that limit widespread soil health testing by farmers.

The Validation of a Novel qPCR Assay for the Detection of Brucella suis

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $149,136

Total award amount   $299,095

Location   Laramie, WY

Program   Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research

Matching Funders   University of Wyoming

Grantee Institution   University of Wyoming

Swine brucellosis is an infectious disease affecting swine and cattle that can create significant costs for livestock producers. No gold standard test exists for accurately detecting swine brucellosis in living animals. Texas A&M and University of Wyoming researchers are developing a faster, more accurate diagnostic test for detection of swine brucellosis.

Xprize Visioneers

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $237,500

Total award amount   $475,000

Location   Culver City, CA

Matching Funders   Tony Robbins Foundation

Grantee Institution   Xprize Foundation Inc

A competition led by XPRIZE Foundation to address food systems, nutrition and environmental stewardship in agriculture.

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

Year Awarded  2016

FFAR award amount   $299,757

Total award amount   $599,513

Location   West Lafayette, IN

Matching Funders   Purdue University

Grantee Institution   Purdue University

Plant root diseases can cause lower yields. Some plant varieties are resistant to root disease, but the mechanisms underlying resistance are unclear. Purdue University researchers are examining how roots mediate disease-resistance by using tomato and a soilborne bacterial pathogen as a model.