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Next-generation phenotyping and genomics for identifying, breeding, and managing more sustainable beef cattle

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $449,964

Location   Knoxville, TN

Grantee Institution   University of Tennessee

The beef industry faces pressure to reduce its environmental footprint and help combat climate change but increasing sustainability presents a complex challenge. This research leverages machine learning, high throughput phenotyping, and genomics to measure and predict sustainability-related traits like water use, forage intake, and methane emission. Additionally, the project will use genomic approaches to identify genes and genetic networks affecting sustainability traits.

A Big Data Tool for Urban Tree Crop Selection Under Climate Change

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $449,936

Location   Davis, CA

Grantee Institution   University of California Davis

The impacts of climate change on urban tree crops and productions are largely unknown, posing a significant threat to urban farming efforts and their future resilience and sustainability. This research is leveraging big data to create novel scientific evidence on the climate suitability and vulnerability of dozens of urban tree crop species across the U.S.

Leveraging Phasic Environment and Nutrient Solution Management to Improve Resource Use Efficiency of Indoor Vertical Farming

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $450,000

Location   Newark, DE

Grantee Institution   University of Deleware+

While previous plant physiology research has advanced our understanding of how individual factors influence plant growth and development, there has not been enough focus on how these factors work as a whole. This research aims to improve the whole-plant photosynthesis and nutritional quality of indoor crops by understanding and optimizing the interactions among key environmental factors such as light, air temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide and root-zone factors, such as fertilization, for each growth phase.

Enabling sustainable soil and water management through microbe-powered RF soil sensing

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $450,000

Location   Santa Cruz, CA

Grantee Institution   University of California Santa Cruz

Monitoring soil properties is an effective way to decrease resource consumption while maintaining crop yields. However, most farms do not use sensor data to guide soil inputs and irrigation, primarily because traditional sensor networks are costly and require significant labor to install and maintain. This research is creating a new technique for agricultural soil sensing that pairs wireless underground tags with an aboveground mobile reader.

Agroecosystem responses to climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity in the United States and Latin America

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $446,474

Location   Syracuse, NY

Grantee Institution   University of Florida

Climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity are three of the most pressing challenges facing humanity. To address these, agroecology stresses the importance of promoting biodiversity conservation and food sovereignty in our food system. This research uses interdisciplinary, multiregional, and community-based approaches to examine the impacts of environmental change on biodiversity and human livelihoods, and the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem services in rural and urban agricultural landscapes.

Targeted On-Demand Disease Management Practices/Therapies

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $450,000

Location   Raleigh, NC

Grantee Institution   NC State University

Increased agricultural trade, human movement, rapid pathogen evolution and a changing climate make many of the tactics used to combat pathogens impossible to implement. This research is developing an ecological community-level understanding of how plant pathogenic bacteria survive and compete in agricultural microbiomes and aims to develop new management and diagnostic tools and host/microbiome interaction models.

Establishing Predictive Genomics to Improve Pollinator Health

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $449,816

Location   West Lafayette, IN

Grantee Institution   Purdue University

Most bee breeding methods were developed almost a century ago and do not use genome-enabled breeding techniques. This research program sets out to work directly with bee breeders to develop and evaluate genome-enabled breeding techniques while producing a large genomic database for honeybees across the country.

Establish Power-to-Food by Cultivating and Processing Hydrogenotrophic Single Cells to Design New Sustainable Protein Supply Chains Without Arable Land

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $430,485

Location   Amherst, MA

Grantee Institution   University of Massacheusetts Amherst

Alternative sustainable protein supply chains not reliant on traditional agriculture are needed for future food security. This research is studying high-protein bacteria that use hydrogen as an energy source, which can be produced sustainably and using less land than traditional agriculture.

Holistic Irrigation Strategies for Climate-Smart Agriculture

Year Awarded  2022

FFAR award amount   $448,339

Location   College Station, TX

Grantee Institution   Texas A&M University

Currently, agriculture decision support tools for water management are unsuitable for climate-smart agriculture because they mostly serve the single purpose of increasing crop productivity. This research is developing water management strategies that not only optimize crop productivity, but also increase carbon sequestration, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote soil health and resilience.

Reinvigorating Soybean Yield for 21st Century Agriculture

Year Awarded  2021

Total award amount   $450,002

Location   Ithaca, NY

Grantee Institution   Cornell University

Soybeans are an important protein source and generate billions in economic growth in the United States. However, soybean yields lag other staple crops due to knowledge gaps concerning hybrid breeding—breeding between genetically distinct parent crops. This research focuses on increasing yields through a two-pronged approach. The team is using biotechnology to introduce a male-sterility/male rescue system that prevents soybean from self-pollinating, along with CRISPR gene editing to enhance soybean floral traits that will attract bees to outcross, or cross different breeds of soybeans. This hybrid breeding system has the potential to introduce genetic diversity, potentially creating trillions of dollars in additional economic and agricultural growth.