Dairy Health, Efficiency & Resource Dynamics Initiative

Dairy HERD will consider applications addressing one or more of the following objectives:

• Economics analyses related to potential reductions in the prevalence of animal health conditions in the context of the associated environmental outcomes; for example, performing cost-benefit analyses that consider the benefits of improved animal health and productivity, reduced costs of treatment and changes in replacement rate, in the context of financial incentive programs that could yield returns on investment.
• Develop or improve decision-support tools and/or models through an enhanced understanding of feedback loops and trade-offs amongst animal health and herd management, economics and environmental outcomes; for example, by developing conceptual, statistical or predictive models that advance whole-farm models or decision-support tools to inform evidence-based decision-making to improve animal health and environmental outputs. Integration into tools/models that have the potential for large-scale implementation by the dairy industry are strongly encouraged.
• Examine and quantify the impact of dairy cow and heifer health on environmental outcomes; for example, quantify, through empirical studies, the effects of prevalent health challenges such as lameness, mastitis and/or metritis, on environmental outcomes. Research results should be reported in widely accepted metrics such as total tons of emissions per cow per day or kg CO2-equivalents per kg fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM) using AR6 GWP100 metrics.

Dairy HERD will not consider applications addressing:

• Research that seeks to increase milk production or to reduce environmental impacts only by increasing milk production efficiency;
• Research that requires the use of grant funds to install equipment on one or more farms; and 
• Research that is not relevant to U.S. dairy production systems.

Yes. Applicants are strongly encouraged to address the following elements in submitted applications:

• A literature review that outlines the current state of the science and novelty of the proposed research;
• Multi-disciplinary collaborations;
• Informed by interaction with the industry;
• Explanation of how the proposed approach will contribute to addressing knowledge gaps;
• Potential for results to be implemented at a scale into diverse dairy production systems in the U.S.;
• Explanation of potential challenges and/or barriers to adoption of results;
• Relevance to a wide range of U.S. dairy production systems.

Dairy HERD welcomes applications from all domestic and international higher education institutions, nonprofit and for-profit organizations and government-affiliated research agencies.

Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to perform the proposed research as Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) may apply through their home institution or organization.

A total of US $1.3 million is available for this funding opportunity. Requests of $500,000 up to $1,000,000 per project will be considered. Projects up to two years in length are eligible for funding.

The matching funds for this opportunity have already been secured, but additional matching funds are encouraged. Successful applications will receive annual disbursements contingent upon meeting reporting requirements, if applicable (see Post Award Management below). Dairy HERD reserves the right to request modifications to the workplan, methodology and scope of proposed work that may affect the total award amount.

Key budget considerations are noted below, and additional budgetary guidelines can be found on FFAR’s website. Applicants are encouraged to contact FFAR’s Grants Team to discuss any concerns.

Funding Restrictions:

• A maximum of 10% of the total award may be used for indirect costs.
• Reasonable budgets work in favor of the applicant. Budgets that are not commensurate with proposed work or poorly justified likely will negatively affect the overall evaluation of the application.

The matching funds for this opportunity have already been secured, but additional matching funds are encouraged.

All applicants must submit their application through FFAR’s online Grant Management System, which requires completing each section before advancing to the next. As reference and to help prepare your online application submission, access the application narrative questions here. 

Applications must be submitted by the deadline date through FFAR’s online application Grant Management System. Applications submitted outside of this System will not be considered.

To start a new application or if you are a new user, please click here. If you are a new user, register for an account by clicking the “Create Account” button located under the email address field on the left side of the home page. Once you log in, you may begin working on your application. Please be sure to save your work often by clicking on “Save and Finish Later.” To access a saved application, please do so through your Grant Management Account.

Only applications submitted by the deadline through FFAR’s Grant Management System will be accepted and considered eligible for evaluation. To be fair to all our applicants, FFAR will not grant extensions to applicants who missed the deadlines posted in the Key Dates section of the RFA.

For questions related to the online submission system, please contact FFAR’s Grant Management team at grants@foundationfar.org or register to attend one of FFAR’s monthly virtual Applicant Office Hours.

For questions related to the Dairy Health, Efficiency & Resource Dynamics (HERD) Initiative, please email Dr. Tim Kurt at tim.kurt@dairy.org.

We only accept scientific or programmatic grant inquiries by email. We strive to respond to inquiries within two business days, but our response time depends on the volume of questions received and the complexity of the questions asked. Please note that we do not monitor this mailbox on evenings, weekends or federal holidays.