Cochran Fellowship Program

The Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service Cochran Fellowship Program is a civilian grant-making office within USDA that funds agricultural capacity-building and knowledge-exchange initiatives, primarily through cooperating institutions and international agricultural organizations. The program administers Cochran Fellowships, which provide technical and professional development opportunities in agricultural practice and policy.

Since 2017, the program has awarded 32 federal grants totaling $2.8 million in federal dollars obligated (with a combined federal and non-federal total of $3.5 million) across 24 distinct recipients. Grant activity has been modest and irregular: 2 awards in 2018, 2 in 2019, 1 in 2020, 2 in 2022, and 5 in 2023. The most recent grant award closed on 2023-08-18. All grants are structured as Cooperative Agreements, reflecting the program's emphasis on collaborative delivery with partner institutions.

The grant recipient base is fragmented. Over the last five years, the top five recipients by award count (University of Hawaii, Mississippi State University, U.S. Livestock Genetics Export Inc., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, and Michigan State University) account for 71 percent of recent awards but each hold only a single award. By federal dollars obligated, the same five recipients represent 32 percent of recent funding, with U.S. Livestock Genetics Export Inc. leading at $599 thousand federal dollars across one award, followed by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service at $123 thousand. The remaining 19 recipients are distributed across single awards with no secondary concentrations, indicating a wide recipient base with no dominant institutional partner.

No recent contract opportunities, grant opportunities, or contract awards are recorded against the program.