Grants Archive

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

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

Year Awarded 2019

Total award amount $250,000

Location Fort Collins, CO

Program FoodShot Global Challenge

Matching Funders FoodShot Global

Grantee Institution Colarado State University

FoodShot Global’s GroundBreaker Prize recognizes rising scientific stars whose research has identified technological and ecological tools that enable farmers to optimize yields and the long-term health of the land. Dr. Keith Paustian, University Distinguished Professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, received a $250,000 GroundBreaker Prize to accelerate the global adaptation of his COMET-Farm tool systems, which provide farmers and land managers with sustainability metrics and decision support resources that promote regenerative and conservation-based agricultural practices at scale.

Open Technology Ecosystem for Agricultural Management (OpenTEAM)

Year Awarded 2019

FFAR award amount $5,000,000

Total award amount $12,008,763

Location Freeport, ME

Matching Funders The Stonyfield Foundation, Stonyfield Organic, Wolfe's Neck Center, Our.Sci, Regen Network, UBC, MSU, AGS, CSU, Cool Farm Alliance, Soil Health Partnership, CU Boulder, General Mills

Grantee Institution Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment

OpenTEAM, the first open source technology ecosystem in the world to address soil health and mitigate climate change, is projected to provide quantitative feedback on millions of acres of farmland by 2024. The platform offers field-level carbon measurement, digital management records, remote sensing, predictive analytics and input and economic management decision support in a connected platform that reduces the need for farmer data entry while improving access to various tools.

FFAR Grant Combats Climate Change Through Soil Health Practices

Year Awarded 2019

FFAR award amount $748,836

Total award amount $1,513,612

Location Washington, D.C.

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Hudson Carbon and Dagan

Grantee Institution American Farmland Trust

Farmers and ranchers are facing increasing challenges from climate change, such as more frequent droughts and flooding, which can devastate crops. Extreme weather imposes drastic changes that ultimately threaten food security. The grant’s research team, led by AFT’s Climate Initiative Director, Dr. Jennifer Moore, is developing a data-driven decision platform that can be used at various capacities to analyze current global warming potential (GWP) for major agronomic systems with the ability to prioritize key areas within states or regions.

FFAR Grant Provides Technical Training to Enhance Soil Health

Year Awarded 2019

FFAR award amount $284,436

Total award amount $569,037

Location Columbia, MO

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Walton Family Foundation, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, American Seed Trade Association

Grantee Institution University of Missouri

Cover crops are essential to preserving nutrient-rich soils for cultivating health foods and improving overall soil health. Although there are various training programs for farmers on how to use cover crops, there is a dire need for technical training for industry agronomists and other farm advisors who influence farmers’ management decisions.

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

Year Awarded 2019

FFAR award amount $300,000

Total award amount $600,000

Location State College, PA

Matching Funders Pennsylvania State University, University of California (UC), Davis Department of Entomology, Almond Board of California, Hedgerow Farms, UC Davis Student Research Farm, UC Davis Saratoga Research Endowment, IF LLC, California Department of Pesticide Regulation, Sola Bee Farms, Henry’s Bullfrog Bees, Steve Godlin, Regents of the University of Minnesota, Dickinson College

Grantee Institution Penn State University

Pests and pathogens destroy food crops, causing significant losses to farmers and threatening food security. The Pennsylvania State University research team is discovering mechanisms and management practices that manage interactions between cover crops, soil dynamics and beneficial organisms to increase crop resistance to pests and pathogens.

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

Year Awarded 2019

Total award amount $20,000

Location Bozeman, MT

Matching Funders Organic Farming Research Foundation

Grantee Institution Montana State University

In the Northern Great Plains, where wheat is the primary crop, organic farmers are rotating in lentils. Lentils generate additional income and improve soil health. However, little is known about the optimum amount of lentil seeds that should be planted to ensure maximum nutrient acquisition, weed management and yield potential. Montana State University Researchers are addressing this research gap by exploring the relationship between seeding rates, lentil yields and soil health.

FFAR and OFRF Award Two Grants That Tackle Soil Health Challenges

Year Awarded 2019

Location Raleigh, NC

Matching Funders Organic Farming Research Foundation

Grantee Institution NC State University

Invasive pests and weeds are a considerable problem for organic sweet potato farmers. Currently farmers depend on repeated cultivation to manage weeds, a energy and labor intensive process that damages the soil. North Carolina State University researchers are assessing whether annual winter cover crop systems can control weeds and insects. This approach aims to provide innovative management techniques that protect soil health.

Optimizing Water Use in Agriculture by Stacking Conservation Practices

Year Awarded 2018

FFAR award amount $300,000

Total award amount $600,001

Location Logan, UT

Matching Funders USU CAES, Central Utah Water Conservancy District, E&I Conservation District, Unitah Conservation District, North Cache Conservation District, Senninger Irrigation, Central Iron County Water Conservancy District, USU RGS

Grantee Institution Utah State University

Concerns about water scarcity are mounting due to rapid urban growth, depleting groundwater supplies and water shortages from climate trends. Utah State University researchers are assessing the combined effectiveness of several methods of water optimization in agriculture, including more efficient water application and management and advanced crop genetics.

Prairie Strips for Healthy Soils and Thriving Farms

Year Awarded 2018

FFAR award amount $746,204

Total award amount $1,492,409

Location Ames, IA

Matching Funders Iowa State University, Roeslein Alternative Energy, Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance, Walton Family Foundation

Grantee Institution Iowa State University

Midwestern farms produce a quarter of the world’s corn and soybeans, yet this bounty drains nutrients from the soil, reducing future yields and undermining profitability. Iowa State University researchers are identifying integration practices that restore soil health.

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

Year Awarded 2018

FFAR award amount $500,000

Total award amount $1,195,677

Location Morrisville, NC

Matching Funders Soil Health Institute, General Mills, Walton Family Foundation, Monsanto Company, Midwest Row Crop Collaborative, Nestle Purina Petcare, The Nature Conservancy, National Corn Growers Association

Grantee Institution Soil Health Institute

The Soil Health Institute is enhancing the adoption of soil health practices by establishing a definitive soil health evaluation program for national deployment.

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

90 Grants found

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

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 (United Kingdom)

FoodShot Global Challenge #4 Water GroundBreaker Prize (Arizona)

Fast-Track On-Farm Impact from the Cool Soil Initiative to Enhance the Climate Resilience of Australia’s Grain Producers

Accelerating the Adoption of Climate Resilient Regenerative Agricultural Practices Across the Wheat and Maize Value Chain in the Mexican Bajío

Co-development of Innovative Prairie Cover Crop Strategies to Drive Adoption of Regenerative Climate Smart Agriculture in Key Sourcing Regions

AgMission™ Funds Global Youth Consultation to Co-Create Agricultural Solutions with Young Farmers

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

OATS (Organic Agronomy Training Service)

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

Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) Reinvestment

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

Tuskegee University Endowment

AgMission CIAT Grant Evaluates the Risk of Climate Disruption for Key Crops across Geographies

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

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

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 (Netherlands)

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

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)

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

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