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Accelerating Coffee Breeding Through Developing Tools to Screen for Critical Disease & Pest Resistance 

Year Awarded  2025

FFAR award amount   $752,946

Total award amount   $1,554,198

Location   Portland, OR

Matching Funders   World Coffee Research

Grantee Institution   World Coffee Research

Coffee breeders need faster, lower-cost ways to identify plants that can withstand major diseases and pests. This project is developing genetic screening tools that help researchers spot disease-resistant traits earlier, creating a new set of genetic markers for robusta coffee and training breeders around the world to use these tools in their own programs. By making breeding more precise and efficient, the research can shorten the time it takes to develop stronger, more productive coffee varieties and help researchers respond more quickly to changing growing conditions. That can lower production risk, reduce losses from disease and pests and support a more stable coffee supply.

Development of a Vaccine for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) Virus in Cattle 

Year Awarded  2025

FFAR award amount   $139,031

Total award amount   $278,163

Location   Ames, IA

Program   Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research

Matching Funders   Genvax Technologies

Grantee Institution   Genvax Technologies

The current H5N1 virus has spread for the first time to dairy cows, with no preventative measures available to protect U.S. herds. With a ROAR grant, Genvax Technologies is developing an H5N1 vaccine for dairy cows. They will also use diagnostic tools to differentiate between infected and vaccinated cows and conduct experiments to confirm that these diagnostic tools are effective in calves.

FFAR Grant Develops H5N1 Vaccine for Dairy Cows 

FFAR’s Rapid Response Grant Addresses Red Crown Rot in Soybeans 

Addressing Red Crown Rot in Soybeans 

Year Awarded  2025

FFAR award amount   $150,000

Total award amount   $300,000

Location   East Lansing, MI

Program   Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research

Matching Funders   United Soybean Board

Grantee Institution   Michigan State University

Red crown rot, a fungal disease, is causing significant yield losses in soybeans, harming both profitability and U.S. competitiveness. Michigan State University researchers are developing tools that rapidly detect and effectively manage the disease.

Smarter Pest Management for Soybean 

Taynara Possebom

2024-2027 FFAR Fellows

FFAR Rapid Funding Develops Pest Management Program for Sweet Corn 

Year Awarded  2025

FFAR award amount   $146,243

Total award amount   $351,670

Location   Olathe, CO

Program   Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research

Matching Funders   AgBiTech, Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, Colorado State University, Colorado West Sweet Corn Administrative Committee, Lepidext, Mountain Fresh, Mountain Quality Marketing, Soil Health Services, Tuxedo Corn Company

Grantee Institution   Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association

Corn earworm, a destructive moth, is causing millions of dollars of damage to sweet corn production in western Colorado and could potentially damage other crops. Researchers at Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers are developing a pest management strategy to protect yields and farmer profits.

FFAR Rapid Funding Develops Pest Management Program for Sweet Corn 

Flockfocus – Developing Automated Surveillance Tools to Safeguard Chicken Welfare (2025) 

Year Awarded  2025

Total award amount   $399,616

Location   Belfast, Northern Ireland

Program   SMART Broiler

Matching Funders   McDonald's Corporation and in-kind support from multiple partners

Grantee Institution   Queen’s University Belfast

Existing methods for assessing animal welfare rely on human observation and subjective scoring which can be inaccurate and time consuming. This research provides additional funding from phase I of the SMART Broiler program to transfer intelligent surveillance techniques used for tracking humans to provide real time monitoring of individual birds within a flock. This camera-based technology, called FlockFocus, represents a significant improvement to monitoring technology currently available to the industry and has the potential for revolutionizing animal welfare in other sectors.

OpticFlock: Automated Monitoring of Chicken Behavior That Prioritizes Animal Welfare – Part II 

Year Awarded  2025

FFAR award amount   $271,865

Location   Oxford, United Kingdom

Program   SMART Broiler

Matching Funders   McDonald’s Corporation

Grantee Institution   University of Oxford

Existing methods for assessing animal welfare rely on human observation and subjective scoring which can be inaccurate and time consuming. This research provides additional funding from Phase I of the SMART Broiler program to refine and extend the testing of a novel camera and computer system called OPTICFLOCK to compare key welfare outcomes, including hockburn, foot pad lesions and lameness, in commercial flocks. Additionally, this project incorporates strategies to facilitate producer adoption of OPTICFLOCK technology.