Grants Archive

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

Further Delineation of the Etiology and Pathogenesis of Liver Abscesses in Feedlot Cattle

Year Awarded 2021

Total award amount $280,000

Location Manhattan, KS

Matching Funders Micronutrients Corporation , Cargill Incorporated and Phibro Animal Health Corporation

Grantee Institution Kansas State University

The exact cause of liver abscesses is unknown. However, once they are formed, they are highly susceptible to the Fusobacterium necrophorum (F. necrophorum) bacterium, resulting in major economic loss to producers due to impaired cattle performance and lower carcass value. This research identifies specific bacterial species in feedlot cattle liver abscesses beyond the primary species, F. necrophorum, and determine their prevalence and involvement in abscess formation, especially in the under-studied hindgut segment of the gastrointestinal tract. This research could help identify new interventions to minimize the occurrence of liver abscesses in cattle. 

Development of a Non-Invasive Model to Induce Liver Abscess Formation in Beef Cattle

Year Awarded 2021

Total award amount $180,922

Location Lubbock, TX

Matching Funders West Texas A&M University, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service and Kansas State University

Grantee Institution Texas Tech University

The exact cause of liver abscesses is unknown. However, once they are formed, they are highly susceptible to the Fusobacterium necrophorum (F. necrophorum) bacterium, resulting in major economic loss to producers due to impaired cattle performance and lower carcass value. This research aims to develop a minimally invasive model that induces liver abscesses in feedlot cattle and improves researchers’ ability to study the development and mitigation of the abscesses, while reducing the time necessary to generate enough animals to study.

High protein aquatic plants for controlled environment indoor farms

Year Awarded 2021

Total award amount $1,500,000

Location Cold Springs Harbor, NY

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory; Crop One Holdings, Inc.

Grantee Institution Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Plant-based protein is a low-carbon, accessible option to diversify dietary intake. Most of the plant-based proteins on the market today are produced from seed-based crops such as soy and nuts, which are often deficient in one or more key amino acids. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, in partnership with Crop One Holdings, is adapting high-protein, amino-acid rich aquatic Lemnaceae plants for controlled environments to improve nutritional value and increase production.

Mitigating antibiotic use in aquaculture through vaccination

Year Awarded 2021

Total award amount $1,305,838

Location Starksville, MS

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Mississippi State University and University of California, Davis

Grantee Institution Mississippi State University

Catfish are an economically important agricultural commodity for several southern U.S. states, with total sales of $360 million in 2018. However, the emerging pathogen, E. piscicida bacterium, is causing infections in catfish and other farm-raised fish, leading to increases in antibiotic use and severe economic losses in aquaculture. There are no commercial vaccines available to prevent E. piscicida. This research aims to develop a vaccine to mitigate E. piscicida in farmed-fish, thereby reducing the number of infected fish and the need for antibiotics.

More Beans (MB): A Next Generation Legume for Healthy Urban Food

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $338,039

Total award amount $676,095

Location Nashville, TN

Matching Funders Agricenter International, Bush Brothers & Company, Caney Forks LLC, Corteva Agriscience, Tennessee State University

Grantee Institution Tennessee State University

Mung bean is an underutilized pulse in the United States that can add to crop diversity. Mung bean has health, economic and environmental advantages and is suitable to the climate conditions of the Southeast. Tennessee State University researchers are optimizing mung bean genetics and cultivation techniques for growth in the Southeast and promote its consumption, especially among people of color and low-income individuals.

High dimensional phenomics and automation to transform cost and timeframe of early stage domestication of wild plants

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $999,957

Total award amount $2,543,829

Location St. Louis, MO

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders The Danforth Center, Danforth Center Field Research Site at Planthaven Farms, The Land Institute, Perennial Agriculture Project and Saint Louis University

Grantee Institution The Danforth Center

To ensure a plentiful food supply in the face of future climate-related challenges, scientists must diversify food crops by domesticating new species. Early farmers domesticated many annual plant species, those planted yearly, in part due to their quick growing cycles; however, these crops require agricultural practices that can harm the soil. Perennial crops, which live for multiple years, offer a more sustainable option. The challenge is that successfully and rapidly domesticating promising perennial crops relies on genetic screening of seeds, an expensive and time-consuming process. This grant is accelerating the development of perennial crops. The researchers are predicting breeding success based on the seedlings’ physical attributes.

Improving Protein Content & Quality in Peas

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $612,257

Total award amount $800,000

Location St. Paul, MN

Program Plant Protein Enhancement Project

Matching Funders Benson Hill, Keygene, Syngenta, University of Minnesota

Grantee Institution University of Minnesota

Plant protein is an important part of the global diet, but there are barriers limiting plant protein’s potential. Some amino acids, which are essential to diets, are missing or less abundant in plant protein. Also, a popular plant protein, soy, is an allergen for many. One alternative to soy is pea protein, but its nutritional value lags soy. University of Minnesota researchers are studying pea protein, develop methods for screening peas with superior protein nutrition and quality and breed these traits to cultivated peas.

FFAR and Alliance for Science Expand Gene Editing Communications

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $189,794

Total award amount $760,271

Location Ithaca, NY

Matching Funders Cornell Alliance for Science

Grantee Institution Cornell University

FFAR invests in a range of research technologies, including projects that use biotechnology and gene editing to make agriculture more sustainable, protect biodiversity and ensure that the world has sufficient food to feed a growing population. Through this award, the Alliance for Science, a global communications initiative, is amplifying FFAR-funded research and programs.

CRISPR-Combo Allows Gene Editing and Culture Regeneration

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $664,000

Total award amount $739,000

Location College Park, MD

Program Accelerated Crop Breeding

Matching Funders BASF

Grantee Institution University of Maryland

While gene editing technology has improved crop breeding and adaptation, the process of regrowing a plant from edited cells is costly, lengthy and unpredictable. Many popular crops are difficult to regenerate with existing methods. Researchers at the University of Maryland are developing a CRISPR-Combo system that will use CRISPR gene editing technology to kick-start the regeneration process.

Scaling Crops for Sustainable Water Management: Building Supply Chains

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $1,997,454

Total award amount $3,997,423

Location Minneapolis, MN

Matching Funders Agriculture Utilization Research Institute, Cargill, Friends of the Mississippi River, Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, McKnight Foundation, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, NORI, The Land Institute, Walton Family Foundation

Grantee Institution University of Minnesota

Summer crops such as wheat, rice, and corn can be profitable for farmers, but post-harvest farmland is unproductive for several months during the off-season. Fallow land can accumulate a variety of water-related challenges, including soil nutrient loss and erosion and precipitation runoff. However, continuous living cover crops can prevent these challenges and maintain land in the off-seasons. The University of Minnesota is developing models for sustainable supply chains that create markets for crops farmers can grow between seasons.

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

164 Grants found

FFAR Rapid Funding Develops Pest Management Program for Sweet Corn

FFAR Rapid Research Develops H5N1 Waste Stream Surveillance Tool

A multiplexed chemical sensor system to automate non-invasive, in-ovo sex determination for the poultry industry

Leveraging landrace genomics to rapidly engineer thermotolerant cassava

Using novel genes from wild germplasm to boost protein content in cultivated chickpea

Genetic and microbial determinants of nitrogen fixation in a Sierra Mixe landrace of maize

Japanese Encephalitis Virus Program Six Awards

Improving Fiber Hemp Quality Through Enhanced Retting Probiotics & Appropriate Harvest Timing

Improving Hemp Quality Through Harvest Timing & Enhanced Processing

Addressing On-Farm Bird Flu Outbreaks Linked to Wild Waterfowl

Rapid Response to Novel Resistance-Breaking Strain of Pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum in Cultivated Strawberry

Grant Improves Stress Tolerance in Carrots

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

Metabolomic analysis of blood plasma to identify unique biomarkers indicative of liver abscesses

Associations between feeding & management practices of beef-on-dairy cattle from birth to harvest with liver abscesses

Promoting antimicrobial stewardship through improved understanding of how feedlot cattle are classified based on BRD risk

Antimicrobial Use Monitoring & Benchmarking in U.S. Feedyards

FFAR Vet Fellows Sixth Cohort

FFAR Rapid Research Builds Diagnostic Tools & Vaccine for Avian Metapneumovirus

FFAR Research to Protect Vegetable Crops from Invasive Pest

Protecting Vegetable Crops from Invasive Pests

A Novel Cell-Surface-Receptor Strategy for Mitigating Mycotoxins

Modeling for genomic, blood & microbiological markers for liver abscesses in fed beef cattle

Understanding liver abscess pathogenesis & risk-factors of feedlot cattle reared in conventional beef versus dairy management systems

ICASA: Defining the contribution of acidosis to the liver abscess complex using novel challenge model to delineate impacts of diet composition and feeding management on liver abscess pathogenesis

Acoustic Monitoring to Support Mass Cattle Treatment Decisions

An International Collaboration for Combating Fusarium Wilt in Cotton

Field trial of rice gene-edited rice for drought tolerance

Elucidating the Genetic Basis for Sub-Tropical Flowering in Hemp

Breeding & Characterizing New Cultivars of Grain & Fiber Hemp

Integrating Genomics, Milk Spectrometry & Microbial Manipulations to Mitigate Enteric Methane Emissions from Dairy Cattle

Hydrogen Production and Hydrogen Utilization in the Rumen of Beef & Dairy Cattle: Key Rumen Microbiome Measurements to Understand Mechanisms Controlling Methanogenesis & Mitigating Enteric Methane Emissions

Evaluation of the Efficacy, Agronomic Fit & Environmental Fate of Biopesticides for Management of Economically Important Diseases & Arthropod Pests of Hemp

A holistic approach to improving keel bone health of breeders and commercial layer hens

Developing Tomato Lines Resistant to Broomrape, a Critical World-wide Pest

Enabling African Scientists: The African Plant Breeding Academy CRISPR Course

Development of Novel Methanogenesis Inhibitors in Ruminants

Investigating Natural Nitro-Compounds as a Viable Strategy to Reduce Enteric Methane Emission from Ruminants

Grant Investigates Naturally Occurring Compound to Reduce Enteric Methane Emissions

FFAR Vet Fellows Fifth Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Fourth Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Third Cohort

Validation of Efficacy of a Protective DIVA-Compatible Prototype African Swine Fever Virus Vaccine

Identifying Proteins Required for Immunity to ASFV

Analyzing the Efficacy of Live-vectored Prototype ASFV Subunit Vaccines

Assessment of the Available Literature & Gap Analysis on the Use of Industrial Hemp as an Animal Feed

Multistate Characterization of Agronomic Performance of Hemp Cultivars, Including Sterility of New Triploid Cultivars

Impact of Spectra & Intensity of LED Supplemental Lighting on Morphology, Growth, Flower Yield & Phytochemical Content of Cannabis Sativa

Breeding & Genetics of Disease Resistance, Flowering Time & Cannabinoid Content in Hemp

Analysis of Terpenes & Neutral Cannabinoids Using Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometry & Genotyping of Hemp Using the SureSelect System

FFAR Grant Promotes Sorghum Health Benefits

ICASA: Antimicrobial Use Monitoring and Benchmarking in U.S. Feedyards

ICASA: Liver abscesses in feedlot cattle; further delineation of the etiology and pathogenesis

ICASA: Fecal microbiota transplant to reduce post-weaning diarrhea and antibiotic use

ICASA: Novel Strategies to Improve Understanding of Liver Abscess Formation and Mitigation in Beef Cattle

ICASA: Pathogen-host interaction during the development of liver abscesses; local and systemic immune and metabolic responses during Fusobacterium necrophorum challenges

Novel Strategies to Improve the Understanding of Liver Abscess Formation in Beef Cattle

ICASA: Improving the efficacy of vaccination against mycoplasma hyosynoviae by identifying optimal application times

Improving the Efficacy of Vaccination Against Mycoplasma Hyosynoviae by Identifying Optimal Application Times

ICASA: Risk Factors for Lameness in Finishing Pigs

ICASA: Development of a non-invasive model to induce liver abscess formation in cattle

Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program

Noninvasive Wellness Monitoring of Broiler Growout Using Continuous Audio Analytics (2022)

Fecal Microbiota Transplant to Reduce Post Weaning Diarrhea & Antibiotic Use

Risk Factors for Lameness in Finishing Pigs

Pathogen-Host Interaction During the Development of Liver Abscesses; Local & Systemic Immune & Metabolic Responses During Fusobacterium Necrophorum Challenges

Defining the Contribution of Acidosis to the Liver Abscess Complex Using a Novel Challenge Model to Delineate Impacts of Diet Composition & Feeding Management on Liver Abscess Pathogenesis

Further Delineation of the Etiology and Pathogenesis of Liver Abscesses in Feedlot Cattle

Development of a Non-Invasive Model to Induce Liver Abscess Formation in Beef Cattle

High protein aquatic plants for controlled environment indoor farms

Mitigating antibiotic use in aquaculture through vaccination

More Beans (MB): A Next Generation Legume for Healthy Urban Food

High dimensional phenomics and automation to transform cost and timeframe of early stage domestication of wild plants

Creating Science-Based Strategies for Gene Editing Communications

FFAR Awards Cornell University a Grant to Treat Udder Infection in Dairy Cattle

Scalable breeding for plant growth to address the challenges of climate change

FFAR Grant Helps Heat-Stressed Dairy Cows Weather Increasing Temperatures

Improving Protein Content & Quality in Peas

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