Additional Funding Opportunities

Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), Seeding Solutions, Health Agriculture Nexus

https://foundationfar.org/what-we-do/challenge-areas/health-agriculture-nexus/ 

The Health-Agriculture Nexus Challenge Area supports pioneering research to reduce food and nutrition insecurity, decrease food waste and loss and improve human health. 

Research focuses on: 

• Increasing access to healthy food 

• Reducing and redirecting food loss and waste 

• Advancing plant and animal production systems 

• Breeding better nutrition 

• Improving processing and packaging technologies 

• Predicting supply and demand for crops and food animals 

Lots of open opportunities: https://foundationfar.org/grants-funding/open-opportunities/ 

Due Date: Dependent on Opportunity

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Seeding Solutions Grants

Seeding Solutions encourages the development of unique partnerships that support innovative and transformative research focused on one of our Research Priority Areas.

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FFAR seeks to award approximately ten meritorious applications, prioritizing those projects that emphasize a commitment to cross-sector partnerships.

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To be considered, applications must address and provide solutions to an intractable problem and/or accelerate innovation within FFAR’s Research Priority Areas.

 

1. Cultivating Thriving Production Systems: supports research that equips producers with information and tools to manage their enterprises efficiently and profitably, including animal and crop management practices

2. Sustaining Vibrant Agroecosystems: supports research that provides tools, technologies and integrative models at scales that allow producers to build and maintain healthy, productive agroecosystems under a changing climate

3. Bolstering Healthy Food Systems: supports research that provides food processors, distributors and retailers with the information and technology needed to create efficient and sustainable supply chains that deliver nutritious food to consumers

Due Date: April 3, 2024

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Regional Food System Partnerships

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), requests applications for the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP) grant program. RFSP purpose is to support partnerships that connect public and private resources to plan and develop local and regional food systems.

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USDA promotes climate-resilient landscapes and rural economic systems, including tools to support agriculture, forests, grazing lands, and rural communities. AMS encourages applicants to consider including goals and activities related to reducing and stabilizing the levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere or adapting to the already occurring climate change in their project’s design and implementation.

Due Date: May 14, 2024

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Conservation Partners Program

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) will award competitive grants to accelerate the voluntary adoption of regenerative agriculture principles and conservation practices on private working lands in priority geographic areas. Grant recipients will provide technical assistance to interested farmers and ranchers to develop management plans, design and implement conservation practices, share their experiences and lessons learned, and participate in Farm Bill programs, especially the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). A particular emphasis should be placed on promoting, designing, and implementing climate-smart agriculture and forestry (CSAF) conservation practices and reducing the Farm Bill practice contracting and implementation backlog. Funded projects will enhance wildlife habitat, soil health, water quantity and quality, and carbon sequestration while providing important social and economic benefits to agricultural producers.

The Conservation Partners Program will support projects that:

 

• Direct staff resources to help agricultural producers design and implement regenerative agriculture systems and practices, especially those that deliver reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and/or increase in carbon sequestration.

• Foster community learning, relationship-building, and development of peer-to-peer networks to advance regional knowledge and adoption of regenerative agriculture systems and practices.

• Work with communities and producers to identify and overcome implementation barriers.

• Increase Farm Bill program participation and conservation practice implementation among agricultural producers, especially farmers and ranchers in the Historically Underserved and Special Emphasis categories.

• Generate environmental benefits, such as improvements to wildlife habitat, soil health, and water quantity and quality.

• Promote conservation systems to complement and advance producer economic interests and operational efficiency.

• Equip agricultural producers with information and data management capabilities to access ecosystem service markets.

Competitive projects will advance one or more of the following strategies:
Crop management: Improve water quality and maximize soil carbon and wildlife values by increasing adoption of cover crops, reduced tillage, diversified crop rotations, perennial cropping systems, nutrient and pesticide management plans, precision agriculture, and other soil health practices.
Grazing management: Promote plant growth above and below ground, improve wildlife habitat, and maximize soil carbon by establishing native grasses and optimizing stocking rates, livestock rotations, utilization rates, and plant rest and recovery.
Irrigation improvement: Improve hydrology, in-stream flows, aquifer recharge, water conservation, and flood and drought resilience by increasing efficiency of on-farm irrigation practices and reducing agricultural runoff.
Habitat enhancement: Enhance habitat values of working grasslands, field buffers, forests, wetlands, riparian zones, floodplains and other adjacent areas through native plantings, removal of invasive species, beneficial mowing, prescribed burning, fencing and other conservation practices.

Due Date: July 26, 2024

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Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program - Foundational and Applied Science Program

AFRI is America’s flagship competitive grants program that provides funding for fundamental and applied research, education, and extension projects in the food and agricultural sciences. In this RFA, NIFA requests applications for the six AFRI priority areas through the Foundational and Applied Science Program for 2024. The goal of this program is to invest in agricultural production research, education, and extension projects for more sustainable, productive, and economically-viable plant and animal production systems. The global agricultural output needs to be expanded significantly to meet the food needs of the population expected in 2050; thus, it is imperative to develop innovative, safe, and sustainable management strategies for livestock (including poultry and aquaculture species), crops, and critical underlying resources. Applications that address climate change, food and nutrition security, expanding markets for producers, indigenous traditional ecological knowledge, and equity for underserved producers are welcome. Also welcome are applications that incorporate virtual learning options, where appropriate and practical for integrated programs.

In 2024, applications are sought in the following priority areas:

1. Plant health and production and plant products;

2. Animal health and production and animal products;

3. Food safety, nutrition, and health;

4. Bioenergy, natural resources, and environment;

5. Agriculture systems and technology; and

6. Agriculture economics and rural communities

Due Date: December 31, 2024

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New Innovator in Food and Agriculture Research Award

The New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Award provides early-career scientists the investment needed to propel them into successful research careers.
Young faculty in the sciences often struggle to secure grant funding. We established the New Innovator Awards to launch the careers of promising scientists whose research addresses significant food and agriculture challenges. These awards allow the grantees to focus exclusively on research without the pressure of securing additional funding.

Due Date: February 21, 2025