Grants Archive

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

Leveraging landrace genomics to rapidly engineer thermotolerant cassava

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $499,999

Total award amount $999,999

Location Davis, CA

Program Increasing Climate Resilience in Crops

Matching Funders Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Grantee Institution University of California Davis

While scientists now wield breakthrough technologies to edit crop genomes to enable climate resiliency, there is still a gap in knowledge of which genes must be edited. This research is leveraging the valuable but largely untapped reservoir of information stored in the genomes of crop landraces—traditional varieties adapted to diverse environments. Combining newly developed genomic analysis and climate modelling approaches, researchers are identifying gene variants predicted to be adaptive to future climates, with an emphasis on temperature extremes, and using genetic engineering techniques to generate cassava varieties to accelerate breeding.

Genetic incorporation of physiological mechanisms of high night temperature tolerance into rice improvement programs

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $384,369

Total award amount $768,738

Location College Station, TX

Program Increasing Climate Resilience in Crops

Matching Funders Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Grantee Institution Texas A&M AgriLife

Rice, a major global food crop, is susceptible to heat stress losses in yield. Nighttime heat stress affects processes throughout the rice plant, including photosynthesis, respiration, nutrient transfer and reproduction. This research is enhancing two targeted rice genes that can provide increased tolerance when under heat stress. The first gene alters specific plant hormone responses, and the second gene enhances nutrient transfer. The project will also distribute low-cost methods for screening rice and other crops for heat stress responses based on physiological traits, aiding breeding programs in low-income countries.

Advancing methods for accelerated heat tolerance selection in peanut

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $274,754

Total award amount $549,507

Location Athens, GA

Program Increasing Climate Resilience in Crops

Matching Funders Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Grantee Institution University of Georgia

Peanut is a high-protein food crop grown mostly in tropical and subtropical regions, and it is directly threatened by increasing global temperature. This research is studying multiple peanut genotypes and varieties to identify genes, molecular mechanisms and photosynthetic processes related to heat stress and tolerance. The researchers are developing an automated model, the Peanut-ThermoTool, to indicate heat tolerance in peanut and rank genotypes for heat tolerance, predicting their capabilities to function during and recover after a period of heat stress. The genotypes possessing heat-tolerance traits will be available in the germplasm collection, serving as genetic resources for heat tolerance in breeding programs.

Exploiting conserved gene regulation mechanisms for genome-wide breeding for heat & broad-spectrum disease tolerance in rice

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $470,459

Total award amount $940,917

Location Fort Collins, CO

Program Increasing Climate Resilience in Crops

Matching Funders Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Grantee Institution Colarado State University

Developing heat and disease resistant crop varieties takes a long time, particularly because these traits are complex and controlled by multiple genes. In addition, reliable genetic markers identifying relevant traits are not readily available, making breeding more challenging. This research is developing a strategy to generate reliable markers of stress-response DNA sequences to efficiently activate genes involved in heat tolerance and disease defenses in rice. The genetic markers could be applied in any crop breeding program, whether in low- or high-income countries.

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

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $642,202

Total award amount $14,000,000

Location Ithaca, NY

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders New York Farm Viability Institute, Elanco

Grantee Institution Cornell University

Mastitis, a common and costly udder infection in dairy cattle is a major economic problem for dairy farmers. Cornell University researchers are exploring compounds secreted by stem cells as a potential therapy for mastitis.

Sustainable Production of High-Performance Feed Supplements

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $653,035

Total award amount $1,410,000

Location St. Paul, MN

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Launch Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, private equity financing and Sasya, Inc.

Grantee Institution University of Minnesota

As consumer demand for animal protein increases, meat producers are under tremendous pressure to increase productivity, while maintaining profitability. As a result, many producers rely on feed supplements to encourage faster growth, reduce disease and improve feed efficiency. This Seeding Solutions grant awarded to Sasya, Inc. supports the development of sustainable, cost-effective, multi-species feed supplements that are safe for livestock, the environment and human consumption.

ICASA Awards Grants to Develop Animal-Health Monitoring and Diagnostic Technologies

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $7,500,000

Total award amount $15,000,000

Location Washington, D.C.

Grantee Institution Texas A&M, Precision Livestock Technology, Purdue University, USDA-ARS

The International Consortium for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Agriculture (ICASA), a public-private partnership established by the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) to advance research on antimicrobial stewardship in animal agriculture, awarded grants to four organizations for research supporting the development of animal-health monitoring and diagnostic technologies.

FFAR Grant to Develop Vaccine for Tilapia Lake Virus

Year Awarded 2021

FFAR award amount $790,326

Total award amount $1,830,312

Location Gainesville, FL

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Curtiss Healthcare

Grantee Institution University of Florida

Tilapia provides protein for billions of people each year. These fish are under threat from tilapia lake virus, a highly contagious virus that causes high mortality rates among tilapia and poses a global threat to food security. University of Florida researchers are developing a vaccine delivery system that will prevent the spread of tilapia lake virus and other diseases in the aquaculture industry.

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

Year Awarded 2020

FFAR award amount $796,878

Total award amount $1,593,756

Location Ithaca, NY

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders BASF, Limagrain, Virginia Crop Improvement Association

Grantee Institution Cornell University

Climate change is creating increasingly unstable farming environments, leading to unpredictable yields and quality. Crop breeding programs aim to develop crops that can thrive despite climate instability; however, breeding programs face their own challenges in predicting how the climate will change and how crops will respond. One specific challenge to breeding programs is the lack of information about how plant genomes and growing conditions interact, and how that interaction impacts agronomic traits such as yield. Cornell University researchers are studying how different plant genomes respond to environment conditions throughout the entire growing season, with the goal of improving crops’ climate resiliency.

Innovations in Plant Genetics to Develop Intermediate Wheatgrass as a Next-Generation Sustainable Crop

Year Awarded 2020

FFAR award amount $992,419

Total award amount $1,985,206

Location Minneapolis, MN

Program Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders Forever Green Initiative, Malone Family Land Preservation Foundation, The Land Institute

Grantee Institution University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota is accelerate the development of intermediate wheatgrass, trademarked as Kernza by The Land Institute, which is a perennial plant, meaning it requires only one planting. Not only do perennial crops like Kernza reduce labor and input costs, their deep roots reduce soil erosion and trap more carbon, benefitting the environment.

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

158 Grants found

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

Investigating waterless decontamination and application potential in transportation biosecurity

What is the cost of disease for grow-finish producers?

FFAR Vet Fellows Sixth Cohort

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

High-throughput in-ovo sexing of chicken eggs using hyperspectral imaging & Raman spectroscopy

Project Ella

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 and Characterizing New Cultivars of Grain and 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

Using sensors & psychological profile to increase compliance of wean to market barn biosecurity

Development of an effective & practical biosecurity entrance system

Self-vaccinating pigs to save labor, improve efficacy & enhance biosecurity: Mhp, IAV, Ileitis & Erysipelas evaluations

Comparison of a rail-mounted automated power washer to a commercial manual power washing crew in terms of cleanliness, manpower & water usage efficiency

Determining the economical & epidemiological benefit of cleaning & disinfecting market haul trailers within the U.S. swine industry

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

Using the power of functional genomics and genetics to reduce keel bone damage

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

Grant Improves Stress Tolerance in Carrots

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

Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program Round One Projects

Plant-XR: A New Generation of Breeding Tools for Extra-Resilient Crops

Identifying Proteins Required for Immunity to ASFV

Analyzing the Efficacy of Live-vectored Prototype ASFV Subunit Vaccines

Fast Tracking Climate Solutions from Global Germplasm Banks

Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize & Wheat for Improved Livelihoods

Harnessing Translational Research Across a Global Wheat Improvement Network for Climate Resilience

Assessment of the Available Literature and 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 and intensity of LED supplemental lighting on morphology, growth, flower yield, and phytochemical content of Cannabis Sativa

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

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

FlockFocus Camera-Based Technology Advances Broiler Chicken Welfare

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

Genomic foundation for neodomestication and breeding of a halophytic grain crop, Distichlis palmeri

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

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