The overall goal of the cooperative agricultural research center (carc) is to conduct agricultural research projects that will help solve everyday problems and issues

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Prairie View A&M University $17.844 million under the Payments to 1890 Land-Grant Colleges and Tuskegee University program (CFDA 10.205) on October 1, 2025.

The funding supports the Cooperative Agricultural Research Center to conduct agricultural research addressing natural resource stewardship, food safety and education, food security in Texas communities, and sustainable livestock management. Research on natural resource stewardship will advance applied research and education in managing land, water, and agricultural systems, with focus areas including water conservation and protection, soil health, stormwater and groundwater management, wildlife management, and best practices in forestry, horticulture, and crop fertility. Food safety research will develop nutritious value-added food products from goat milk, goat meat, poultry, and specialty fruits and vegetables produced on the PVAMU farm, emphasizing safety from farm to table through production, post-harvest storage, processing, distribution, and consumer handling and preparation, using traditional plate counting methods and molecular methods employing DNA and RNA microbial analyses. Food security work will focus on post-harvest storage and conversion of commodities to safe, nutritious, and affordable foods for Texas communities, addressing the state's above-average food insecurity rates compared to the national average. Sustainable livestock management research will support productivity and management systems in the large and small ruminant animal industry in Texas.

Performance takes place in Hempstead, Texas from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2027. The assistance type is a formula grant.

Planned projects emphasize improving quality of life, strengthening food security, advancing natural resource stewardship, enhancing livestock management, and supporting crop production. Outreach methods are tailored to community needs and delivered through a network of researchers, specialists, technicians, and staff. Key program areas include: natural resource stewardship: advance applied research and education in managing land, water, and agricultural systems. Focus areas include water conservation and protection, soil health, stormwater and groundwater management, wildlife management, and best practices in forestry, horticulture, and crop fertility. Emphasis is placed on stewardship that supports agricultural productivity and resilience, without restricting access to domestic energy resources. Food safety & education: research will be conducted on developing nutritious value-added food products from goat milk, goat meat, poultry and specialty fruits and vegetables produced on the pvamu farm. The safety of these foods from farm to table will be emphasized, including production, post-harvest storage, processing, distribution, and consumer handling and preparation. Microbial analyses will include traditional plate counting methods and molecular methods US ING DNA and RNA. Food security in texas communities: compared to the national average, texas ranked among the highest food insecurity rates in the US. Research will focus on the post-harvest storage and conversion of commodities to safe, nutritious, and affordable foods to communities. Collaboration with researchers in plant and animal sciences will be emphasized and fostered. Sustainable live stock management: in the large and small ruminant animal industry, livestock production, productivity, and management systems continue to grow in texas. The culmination of these issues will focus on improving productivity with a variety of agricultural animals. Focus will be on improving livestock management, enhancing technologies and practices that increase livestock productivity, and conducting multiple levels of research investigating methods to increase the health and productivity of livestock through optimizing nutrition and reproduction at the genetic level to study all aspects of food and animal production. Crop production & utilization: discovering new knowledge about genetics, growth, and disease resistance of field, grain, fruit, and vegetable crops and providing agronomic information on hybrids and variety. This includes high-value, low-volume specialty crop production and major crops. Research will focus on under-utilized fruits and vegetables, medicinal plants, legumes, and root crops and actively investigate corn, soybean, wheat, forage, oats, and alfalfa. The cooperative agricultural research center (carc) will achieve resiliency through research on the demonstration farm with agronomic crops, food, fiber, and ecological systems; incorporate experiential education on the farm; and renovate research space, beef cattle, goat and poultry operation; and create collaborations among federal, state, and local EN tities to engage in new research for emerging specialty agronomic crops, emergency management, and disaster education to county agents. The cooperative agricultural research center (carc) will address issues related to nutrition, food safety/quality, food security /insecurity, and the related impacts on quality of life and examine the efficacy of producing high-value, low-volume medicinal and nutritional products.