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Accelerated Crop Breeding

This research increases the transferability of advanced breeding methods to accelerate the development of diverse crop species suited to sustainable agriculture and improved human nutrition.
Generating Production Systems Solutions
This research increases the transferability of advanced breeding methods to accelerate the development of diverse crop species suited to sustainable agriculture and improved human nutrition.

Program Contact

Ryan Comella
rcomella@foundationfar.org

Partnerships & Development Contact

Lauren Hershey
lhershey@foundationfar.org

This program is no longer accepting applications

About Accelerated Crop Breeding

Farmers regularly face challenges from insects, disease and climate change. To address these obstacles, our Crops of the Future Collaborative is providing research funding to develop transformative tools and technologies that allow scientists to rapidly introduce new traits into multiple crop species. Such tools and technologies would ultimately increase food security by providing more resilient, diverse and profitable crops for growers. 

Introducing a new trait into a crop using traditional breeding methods requires 8-10 years before the enhanced crop reaches farmers. This program is developing methodologies to reduce this timeline by several years, getting improved crops into farmers’ hands sooner.

The Crops of the Future Collaborative aims to fund research on crops species that are well suited for sustainable agriculture, valuable for human nutrition and considered an under-appreciated crop that has not benefited from rapid breeding methods. The funded projects will develop a genotype-independent technology or approach that would be applicable to multiple crop species and foster the adoption of rapid breeding methods in those plants, such as in vitro double haploid production and genome editing.

Accelerated Crop Breeding Awarded Grants

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

Accelerating Breeding Technology to Develop New Crops

Year Awarded  2021

FFAR award amount   $385,512

Total award amount   $535,512

Location   Davis, CA

Program   Accelerated Crop Breeding

Matching Funders   Limagrain Europe

Grantee Institution   University of California Davis

See all Accelerated Crop Breeding Awarded Grants

The Latest

Insights

Our Insights highlight unique perspectives from across the food and agriculture community.

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H5N1 Risk to Swine Research Program 

Drs. Jasmine Bruno & Megan Niederwerder

The Aim For Healthy, Productive & Environmentally Friendly, Southeastern Beef Calves 

Federico Tarnonsky

FFAR Fellow (2022-2025), University of Florida

Time Teaches Biosecurity Importance 

Kevin Schulz

Kevin Schulz

Editor, The Farmer/Farm Progress

Greener Cattle Initiative is Game Changer for Dairy’s Future 

Dr. Juan Tricarico

Dr. Juan Tricarico

Senior Vice President, Environmental Research, Dairy Management Inc.

Reducing Enteric Methane Emissions from Dairy Cattle 

Francisco Penagaricano headshot

Dr. Francisco Peñagaricano and Dr. Guillermo Martinez Boggio

Let’s Raise a Glass on National Milk Day to the Power of Agriculture Research 

Krysta Harden headshot

Krysta Harden

President and CEO U.S. Dairy Export Council

Building Team Chemistry: The Bigger Picture Behind Cows & Climate 

Conor McCabe headshot

Conor McCabe

Animal Biology Graduate Student, UC Davis

Insight on Livestock Methane Mitigation 

Dr. Rod Mackie

Dr. Rod Mackie, Professor, Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 

Champaign, IL

Indigenous Farmers are Leading a “New Green Revolution” Focused on Hemp 

James DeDecker, Director, Michigan State University – Upper Peninsula Research and Extension Center Mary Donner, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians – Ziibimijwang Farm Executive Director and Tribal Citizen

FFAR Vet Student Fellow Research Spotlight 

Agricultural study in progress.

Anna Schaubeck

2021 FFAR Veterinary Student Research Fellow

Celebrating Innovation on National Egg Day 

Paul Montgomery

Paul Montgomery

Director of Communications, United Egg Producers

Going Nuts: Nut Crops as Climate Resilient Protein Alternatives for the Future 

Matt Davis

University of California, Davis

How Heat Stress Impacts Swine Health 

Portrait of Lauren Anderson.

FFAR Fellow, Lauren Anderson

North Carolina State University

Building Tools for Plant Genome Editing 

Portrait of Simon Sretenovic.

FFAR Fellow, Simon Sretenovic

University of Maryland, College Park

Tackling Malnutrition with Biofortification 

Portrait of Aicha Waziri.

Aichatou Djibo Waziri

Washington State University

Wheat: already delicious and now nutritious 

Portrait of Addy Carroll.

Addison Carroll

FFAR Fellow

Dusting the Soil for Fungus-Prints: Spinach Seed Production and One of its Greatest Threats 

Portrait of Batson.

Alex Batson

Washington State University

A day on the Battlefield: Searching for Perennial defenses in wild places 

Portrait of Kelsey Peterson.

Kelsey Peterson

2019-2022 FFAR Fellow

Heavy Metal and Chocolate: Not the Best Pairing   

Portrait of Zachary Dashner.

Zachary Dashner

2018-2021 FFAR Fellow

News

The latest news and updates from FFAR.

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FFAR Rapid Research Builds Diagnostic Tools & Vaccine for Avian Metapneumovirus 

FFAR Research to Protect Vegetable Crops from Invasive Pest 

FFAR Rapid Research Develops H5N1 Waste Stream Surveillance Tool 

FFAR & AAVMC Open Applications for 2025 FFAR Vet Fellows 

FFAR Grant Seeks to Decrease Corn Inputs, Increases Climate Resiliency 

Seeding Solutions Grant Helps Develop Corn Resistant to Fungal Disease 

SHIC/FFAR Fund Six Japanese Encephalitis Virus Research Projects 

Grant Improves Hemp Fiber Processing & Quality 

FFAR Research Addresses On-Farm Bird Flu Outbreaks Linked to Wild Waterfowl 

SHIC, FFAR & Pork Checkoff Announce H5N1 Risk to Swine Research Program & RFP 

ROAR Funding Protects Strawberries from Dangerous Pathogen 

FFAR Aims to Help Farmers Manage Manure More Sustainably & Profitably 

Hemp Research Consortium Grant Examines Biopesticides for Hemp Treatment 

Seeding Solutions Grant Developing Tomato Resistance to Parasitic Weed 

Crops of the Future Grant Improves Stress Tolerance in Carrots 

ICASA Award Addresses Antimicrobial Stewardship for Bovine Respiratory Disease 

Swine Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program Funds Additional Research 

FFAR Names Sixth Cohort of Veterinary Fellows 

U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef & FFAR Announce Focus Group Series to Develop Sustainable Beef Research Roadmap 

FFAR-Funded Research to Prevent African Swine Fever Virus 

Breakthroughs

Tools, technologies and strategies from the research we fund.

See all Breakthroughs

Unlocking Genetic Heat Tolerance in Cattle 

Breakthrough for Precision Bred Adaptation of Elite Taurine Breeds of Beef & Dairy Cattle

Accelerating Crop Development with Improved Haploid Fertility 

Breakthrough for Accelerated Development of Crops of the Future

Radiography could transform poultry breeding 

Breakthrough for FFAR Awards $1.4 Million to Purdue University, University of California, Davis and University of Edinburgh Researchers to Improve Health and Productivity of Egg-Laying Hens

Research Pinpoints Why Dairy Cows Produce Less Milk in Warm Weather and Develops Nutrition-Based Solution 

Breakthrough for FFAR Grant Helps Heat-Stressed Dairy Cows Weather Increasing Temperatures

Getting to the Root of the Problem: Fastidious Pathogens 

Breakthrough for A Novel Bioassay for Culturing and Characterizing Fastidious Phytopathogens

Feed Additives Stop Viral Disease Spread, Researchers Find 

Breakthrough for FFAR-Funded Research Finds Feed Additives Stop the Spread of Viral Diseases

Initial Successes in Ending Surgical Castration of Swine 

Breakthrough for FFAR Awards $500,000 Grant to Improve Swine Health and Well-Being

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