The purpose of hatch funding provided by USDA/nifa is to support research on all aspects of agriculture, including soil and water CO nservation and use; plant and animal production, protection and…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded the University of Massachusetts $3,856,682 under the Hatch Act formula grant program on October 1, 2025, to support agricultural research conducted through the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station.

The funds support student employment and operating expenses for research activities, including equipment, materials, supplies, and travel, by faculty investigators across ten academic departments and the UMass Cranberry Station. Research encompasses all aspects of agriculture within the program's scope: soil and water conservation, plant and animal production and health, food processing and safety, forestry and range management, aquaculture, human nutrition, rural and community development, sustainable agriculture, and molecular biology and biotechnology. Projects undergo academic peer review and final approval by USDA program leaders before funding allocation. The Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, a unit within the College of Natural Sciences, administers the Hatch funds and allocates them annually to recipients in the College of Natural Sciences (Biology, Environmental Conservation, Food Science, Geosciences, Microbiology, Stockbridge School of Agriculture, and Veterinary and Animal Science), the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Resource Economics and Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning), and the School of Public Health and Health Sciences (Nutrition).

The award period runs from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027, with place of performance at Hadley, Massachusetts. The assistance type is a formula grant. Up to one hundred percent of obligated funds may be carried over for up to one year after the fiscal year of appropriation.

The purpose of hatch funding provided by USDA/nifa is to support research on all aspects of agriculture, including soil and water CO nservation and use; plant and animal production, protection and health; processing, distribution, safety, marketing, and utilization of food and agricultural products; forestry, including range management and range products; multiple use of forest rangelands, and urban forestry; aquaculture; home economics and family life; human NUTRITION; rural and community development; sustainable agriculture; molecular biology and biotechnology. Research may be conducted on problems of local, state, regional or national concern. At umass amherst, the funds associated with the federal hatch award are used to support student employment and to provide operating funds for research related expenditures (research equipment, materials, supplies, and travel) by faculty investigators who employ a variety of methods appropriate to their discipline and specific program of research. Hatch funds are administered by the massachusetts agricultural experiment station, a unit of the center for agriculture, food and the environment (CAFE), within the umass college of natural sciences. CAFE allocates hatch funds annually to academic departments and the umass cranberry station. Academic department heads then allocate funds to faculty whose projects have undergone academic peer review and final review and approval by USDA program leaders. Seven of the academic departments that receive hatch funds are in the college of natural sciences (biology, environmental conservation, food science, geosciences, microbiology, stockbridge school of agriculture and veterinary and animal science). Two departments (resource economics and landscape architecture & regional planning) are in the of social and behavioral sciences and one department (NUTRITION) is in the school of public health and health sciences.