Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research

Today marks 10 years! Here's to 10 years of supporting bold, innovative research in food and agriculture. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Jan Leach of Colorado State University and her research assistant and FFAR Fellows Program: Future Leaders for Food & Agriculture Erin Jackson to capture the critical importance of food and agriculture research in our changing world, and the impact FFAR has had over the last decade. Here's to all the other bold organizations and brilliant minds we've supported or partnered with over the last decade, and here's to the next 10 years...

Our groundwater is under threat. Overuse, contamination and extreme climate events such as droughts, which prevent groundwater levels from recharging, are all putting this critical resource at risk. Nearly 50% of United States homes, businesses and other civic institutions like schools meet their water needs with groundwater wells, and crop irrigation accounts for 71% of groundwater withdrawals in the U.S. as of 2019. But there has been a lack of comprehensive data on our nation's groundwater pumping, which poses risks for ensuring we are not depleting this critical resource. Until now... In honor of #WorldWaterWeek, we're highlighting Landon Marston, PhD, PE of Virginia Tech, who has created the Database of Groundwater Wells in the United States, a major undertaking compiling records of over 14 million groundwater wells across the U.S. This database is a crucial decision-support tool for improving our groundwater management and conservation. Find his research findings through the link in the comments!

CONTRACTING EVALUATOR OPENING! We're looking for an experienced research program evaluator to evaluate our Food Loss & Food Waste portfolio. We envision a summative portfolio evaluation to assess if research needs were met. We foresee the evaluator using a mixed methods approach, which includes qualitative and quantitative analyses. Learn more and share with your networks through the link in the comments.

Access to venture capital for budding entrepreneurs is often not equitable among underserved communities. That's why FFAR & Kirchner Impact Foundation created the Kirchner Fellowship HBCU Cohort in 2021 to train HBCU students to become venture capitalists by empowering them to evaluate investment opportunities and giving them discretion over investment decisions for companies solving critical food & agriculture challenges. Listen to this program alumnus Kwame Terra credit the knowledge and experience he gained from this fellowship to the success of his startup, bEHR Health Systems, Inc. Learn more through the link in the comments. Kirchner Group

Introducing the next generation of food & agriculture scientists... FFAR and North Carolina State University have announced the 2024 cohort of FFAR Fellows! The FFAR Fellows Program: Future Leaders for Food & Agriculture provides professional development training to doctoral students studying food and agriculture sciences.

Research to drive innovation for the benefit of the producers and consumers. That's what we support, so it's a natural partnership that we have with National Pork Board in which we have co-funded a number of research projects together. Learn more about this partnership through the link in the comments!

Everybody's favorite healthy, crunchy snack faces some serious threats... A couple of the biggest threats to carrot growers are water access and diseases like Alternaria leaf blight, a pathogen that can reduce yields by 40-60%. Ouch! Don't worry, scientists are on it! Researchers at Seed Biotechnology Center at UC Davis, in collaboration with the USDA are tapping into the genetic diversity of wild carrots to breed Alternaria resistance and the ability to grow in water-deficient conditions. Learn more about this exciting research through the link in the comments...

In partnership with American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges, FFAR proudly supported these 10 Vet Student research fellows (see 7/26 post) at the 2024 Veterinary Scholars Symposium in St. Paul, MN. There's a growing shortage of large animal veterinarians, which has negative implications down the supply chain. That's why we're investing in the future of the veterinary workforce. For the animals, the producers and the end consumers. Pictured are future Vet leaders: Makayla Elliston & Paige Johnson of Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine Taylor Motensen & Briana Gleizer of Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine Kassandra Crissman of Louisiana State University Katherine Choo of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Sydney Puda of Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine Kellyne Skillin of University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine Morgan Ostrander of Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine & Samuel Kehinde Adebayo of University of Missouri-Columbia & University of Ibadan

THIS MONDAY! Contribute to the vision for a sustainable beef industry. Join us for the third installment of this series. This third session is focused on emissions. You can register and also watch the recordings for the previous two sessions (land, water resources) here: https://lnkd.in/gqYzNpsc Let your voice be herd (pun intended 😉 )!

FFAR recently visited The Ohio State University for one of our partnerships, Precision Indoor Agriculture's Executive Committee meeting and site visit. FFAR staff led the meeting, toured the growing facility, and tasted strawberries being grown as part of the project. Pictured are Dr. Chieri Kubota - a professor in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, and one of her grad students. Here's a quote from a taste tester, "Wow. Nothing like what I find in the grocery store. It was almost unbelievable. I felt like I was eating a dessert. " Research at work... Priva North America AeroFarms Fluence BASF Agricultural Solutions GreenVenus