Support for the national drought mitigation center operations and research collaborations with USDA-ARS -- this cooperative agreement provides an opportunity to support and enhance the U.S. Drought…

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service awarded the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska a $1.094 million cooperative agreement on June 1, 2026, to support National Drought Mitigation Center operations and research collaborations under the Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research program (CFDA 10.001).

The award funds enhancement and expansion of the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) through validation and geographic expansion of existing tools, development of new analytical tools, and creation of outreach and educational products addressing drought resilience for agricultural producers, resource managers, extension educators, and USDA partners. Work includes building and strengthening drought learning networks, facilitating peer-to-peer information sharing, developing new tools and data resources to improve USDM efficiency for weekly contributors, and enhancing communication of drought information to USDA and Congress. The University of Nebraska will collaborate with USDA-ARS to coordinate regional priorities with USDA Service Centers and regional partners, particularly to increase drought resilience capacity across the agricultural sector.

Performance runs from June 1, 2026, through May 31, 2030. Place of performance is Lincoln, Nebraska. The award obligates $1.094 million, with no sub-recipient pass-through indicated in the source.

Support for the national drought mitigation center operations and research collaborations with USDA-ARS -- this cooperative agreement provides an opportunity to support and enhance the U.S. Drought monitor (usdm) and integrate the research and service objectives of USDA-ARS and the national drought mitigation center (ndmc). IT facilitates the enhancement of existing tools, development of new tools, outreach/educational products and drought-related research and services that will provide a variety of USDA partners with usable information to address drought-related issues aimed at building better drought resilience and profitability for producers. The cooperator will work with the USDA-ARS to enhance its role in providing research and information services to address the needs of producers, resource managers, and land managers in the agricultural sector, as well as the needs of extension educators and other agricultural advisors who support agricultural drought resilience, and across other USDA agencies. Ongoing research with the ARS will also facilitate collaboration between regional partners and the various USDA service centers, to articulate regional and national priorities and to develop new tools and outreach products, in addition to enhancing those already in existence, particularly the usdm. The work plan of this agreement includes tasks which will result in the validation, enhancement, or geographic expansion of existing tools, the building/strengthening of drought learning networks and peer-to-peer information sharing, increasing resilience capacity addressing drought, and improved communication of drought information to USDA and congress as requested. The cooperative agreement will also enhance the usdm through new tools and increased data availability, and efficiency for those who participate in the weekly process of developing the usdm. This will, in turn, extend the outreach and services capacity of both organizations, individually and through collaboration, and provide a venue for regional drought services and extension partners, and other regional partners both within and outside USDA, as well as feedback, guidance and CO-design in regard to the application of tools and information developed by the ndmc. Objective 1: provide operational support for the usdm (and derivative products and services), authors, and technical staff. Objective 2: provide contracting support for hardware/software, cloud services, programming, professional services, and cybersecurity services. Objective 3: develop tools that enhance the core ARS research mission related to drought planning, preparedness, and agricultural impacts.