The university of florida's institute of food and agricultural sciences (UF/ifas) is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources,…

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded the University of Florida $2,167,482 on October 1, 2025, under the Hatch Act program (CFDA 10.203) to support cooperative agricultural research through the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station. The award funds research conducted by UF/IFAS across 14 academic departments and two schools at the Gainesville campus, 18 off-campus facilities, and extension offices in each of Florida's 67 counties, employing more than 2,000 faculty and staff statewide including 375 extension agents. At the time of application, UF/IFAS maintained 84 active Hatch multistate capacity projects addressing six critical issues: agricultural and food systems, water quality and conservation, natural resources and environment, nutrition health and food safety, families and communities, and youth. The Hatch program supports multidisciplinary cooperative research in which state agricultural experiment stations work with other state experiment stations, the federal government, or colleges and universities to solve problems affecting more than one state through original research and investigations bearing directly on the establishment and maintenance of a permanent and effective agricultural industry in the U.S. Performance occurs in Gainesville, Florida, with a period of performance from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027.

The university of florida's institute of food and agricultural sciences (UF/ifas) is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences. The research mission of UF/ifas, conducted under the auspices of the florida agricultural experiment station (faes), is to discover new scientific knowledge, encourage innovative study, and create applications based on sound science that address challenges facing agriculture, natural resources, and interrelated human systems in florida, our country, and the world. UF/ifas has facilities located throughout the state - 14 academic departments and two schools based at the main campus in gainesville, 18 off-campus facilities, and an extension office in each of florida's 67 counties and employs more than 2,000 faculty and staff statewide, including 375 extension agents. The hatch multistate program supports cooperative research employing multidisciplinary approaches in which a state agricultural experiment station, working with another state agricultural experiment station, the federal government, or a college/university, cooperates to solve problems that concern more than one state through the conduct of original & other research, investigations, & experiments bearing directly on & contributing to the establishment & maintenance of a permanent & effective agricultural industry in the U.S. At the time of application, UF/ifas has 84 active hatch multistate capacity projects that leverage hatch multistate capacity fun ding to cover a wide range of interdisciplinary research topics that align with six critical issues of the hatch multistate program: (1) agricultural and food systems, (2) water quality and conservation, (3) natural resources and environment, (4) nutrition, health and food safety, (5) families and communities and (6) youth. Research generated by these projects will benefit other scientists, ST udents, federal, state and local governmental agencies, ranchers and other agricultural producers, commodity groups, industry, non-governmental organizations (ngos), non-profit groups, community resource organizations (cros), landowners, land managers and the general public at large. Research findings will be disseminated through scholarly publications, presentations, and public outreach (extension) programs.