UC agriculture and natural resources (UC ANR) is the land-grant arm for the university of california (UC)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded The Regents of the University of California, doing business as University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), $9.773 million under the Hatch Act formula grant program (CFDA 10.203) on October 1, 2025.

UC ANR conducts integrated agricultural research and extension education through its Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension programs across nine UC campuses, all 58 California counties, ten research and extension centers, and statewide institutes. The organization engages academics across the UC system on transdisciplinary approaches to agricultural and natural resource issues, including sustainable farming, food safety, animal health, forestry management, soil and water conservation, nutrition education, and rural development. UC ANR collaborates with faculty from the state university system, community colleges, private institutions, federal and state agencies, agricultural organizations, and non-governmental organizations.

The award runs from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2027, with place of performance in Oakland, California. Under the Hatch Act, UC ANR must allocate at least 25 percent of funds to projects involving multi-state collaboration addressing regional or national agricultural research priorities. Funds are expected to be expended in the fiscal year of appropriation; up to 100 percent may be carried forward for up to one year following the appropriation year without prior approval.

UC's agricultural experiment station (AES) is integrated with UC cooperative extension (CE) across the state. UC ANR has AES and/or CE academics located on nine of the ten UC campuses, programs in every county in california, UC systemwide institutes, statewide programs, and ten research and extension centers (RECS) across the state. Integrating two additional campuses to UC's AES, UC santa cruz and UC merced, is an ongoing exciting endeavor, expanding UC's research portfolio on agricultural and food-related issues. The UC ANR network engages academics across the entire UC system to encourage integrated AES and CE teams to work on complex issues that require transdisciplinary approaches to find solutions. UC ANR academics work with colleagues in other states. The UC ANR connections also include faculty from the state university system, community colleges, private colleges and universities, and partners representing federal and state governmental agencies, organizations representing agricultural and natural resource production, non-governmental organizations (NGO's), and other interest areas including the environment, youth, and community nutrition and health. The 2040 strategic vision document serves as a blueprint to guide UC ANR work, structure, and resource allocation to address the identified california challenge areas that UC ANR is well positioned to address and realize the vision of being valued in every california community for meaningful engagement and making a positive impact in people's lives. For FFY2026, UC ANR updated the programmatic structure. Six new program areas listed below serve as the critical issues in the nifa reporting system. Under the program areas there are 31 more specifically focused program teams, which are each CO-led by one campus-based and one field-based academic, and engage external partners, to guide research and extension efforts. Agronomy and horticulture, animal production systems, community and economic development, integrated pest management, natural ecosystems and working landscapes, and youth, families, and communities