Project Grant 201670005256531

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded a 3-year, $946,349 Project Grant under the Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage Systems Program (CFDA #10.330) to Michigan State University. The grant supports research to improve understanding of autotoxicity in alfalfa, a complex issue that limits alfalfa establishment and stand persistence. Key objectives include: Identifying autotoxic compounds in alfalfa using a soil bioassay and examining their production...

This $946,348 federal Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage Systems Program (CFDA 10.330) aims to address water stress and drought challenges faced by alfalfa growers in the Southern Great Plains. The key objectives of the "Drought Resilient Alfalfa Production (D-RAP)" project include: 1) Spatiotemporal quantification and management of water budgets in alfalfa...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded a $936,013 Project Grant under the Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage Systems Program (CFDA 10.330) to Colorado State University (CSU). The overarching goal of this 3-year project is to develop strategies for sustaining alfalfa productivity and quality in Colorado and Utah by evaluating the drought tolerance of alfalfa cultivars in combination with legumes and grasses. Key activities include conducting...

The University of Florida (UF) has been awarded a $749,785 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program. The 3-year project aims to enhance the sustainability of farming by integrating perennial grasses and cover crops into traditional crop rotations, along with optimal grazing practices. This approach will be tested at two field sites in North Florida to compare it...

The University of California, Davis received a $946,349 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage Systems Program (CFDA 10.330). The grant supports research to breed alfalfa cultivars that are resilient to late summer water stress and test commercial and experimental alfalfa cultivars under deficit irrigation conditions in UT and CA. The project aims to identify high-yield, drought-tolerant alfalfa cultivars and document water savings from deficit...

This federal Project Grant award of $924,037, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage Systems Program (CFDA 10.330), supports research to improve alfalfa production, yield, quality, and sustainability in cold climate regions. The key objectives of the project include: 1) characterizing alfalfa germplasm for winter hardiness, root architecture, and nitrogen fixation; 2) quantifying alfalfa forage yield, nutritive value, and ecosystem services in...

The Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded The Johns Hopkins University a three-year, $649,999 Project Grant under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program (AFRI, CFDA No. 10.310). The grant will fund research into the persistence of environmentally friendly agricultural practices by producers after initial adoption, using cover cropping as a case study. The research team will develop quantitative and qualitative datasets and...

The University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. (UGA Research Foundation) was awarded a $179,304 Project Grant under the USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program to conduct research on the agroecological consequences of surplus phosphorus in agricultural systems. The project has two primary objectives: 1) conducting manipulative field experiments on collaborating farms to measure the effects of high versus low phosphorus levels on predation of insect herbivores, and...

This $800,000 project grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program will support research to advance understanding of two novel systems that integrate circular nutrient economies and ecological nutrient management practices on farms. The key objectives of the 4-year project are to: Determine how adaptive multi-paddock grazing of cover crops affects soil nitrogen...

This $300,000 federal Project Grant awarded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program aims to evaluate the feasibility of integrating a living mulch system into corn production in the southern United States. The key objectives are to assess the biomass production of perennial cover crops in living mulch systems compared to traditional annual cover cropping, evaluate potential yield trade-offs in corn grown...