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FFAR » Dairy Health, Efficiency & Resource Dynamics Initiative
Open Opportunity
FFAR, Dairy Management Inc and Zoetis are seeking research proposals to advance research in animal health, ensure the economic viability of the U.S. dairy industry and improve environmental outcomes.
Program Contact
Dr. Jasmine Bruno jbruno@foundatoinfar.org
Grants Team
grants@foundationfar.org
Application Due: June 25, 2025, by 5 p.m. EDT
The Dairy HERD Initiative is a partnership between FFAR, Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) and Zoetis to advance research that will enable U.S. Dairy and allied industry to better understand and use innovations to support improved animal health/management and welfare, economic viability and environmental outcomes. Recent reports suggest that improving the health of dairy cows in the U.S. could substantially improve the environmental outcomes associated with dairy production. Yet very little research has attempted to quantify the environmental impacts of improved animal health in dairy or to understand the tradeoffs and intersections with other aspects of livestock production, including the role of caretakers and economic aspects of herd management. The Dairy HERD Initiative aims to support research to advance our understanding of the interrelationships among dairy health/management and welfare, economics and the environment.
Dairy HERD will consider applications addressing one or more of the following objectives:
Dairy HERD will not consider applications addressing:
Yes. Applicants are strongly encouraged to address the following elements in submitted applications:
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:
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. To help prepare your online application submission, you can download the full proposal 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.
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