This Project Grant award from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) provides $225,000.00 to Colorado State University to investigate how different farming practices, particularly integrated crop-livestock systems, affect soil health. The research aims to identify practical ways to enhance soil health, increase crop yields, and contribute to climate change mitigation by improving...
This $150,000 project grant awarded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Integrated Programs (CFDA 10.303) supports North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T) in building a regional organic farming network for small-scale, minority, and underserved farmers in the Southern U.S. The project aims to address the unique challenges faced by these farmers, such as poor soil quality, weed and pest pressure, and limited access to...
This $999,979 Project Grant award from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Integrated Programs (CFDA 10.303) supports a collaborative research project between North Carolina State University and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. The objectives are to: 1) evaluate the agronomic and soil fertility impacts of substituting enhanced rock weathering (ERW) for lime in organic row crops and small-scale organic vegetable production, 2) estimate carbon...
This $999,908 Project Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Integrated Programs (CFDA 10.303) supports integrated research, education, and extension activities to address barriers to organic crop production in the Mid-South region of the United States. The grantee, Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development, will conduct replicated field trials on organic production systems, perform economic...
This federal Project Grant award, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310), aims to develop new knowledge that will guide targeted management approaches for consistently reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural soils. The $749,764 grant, awarded to North Carolina State University, will focus on soil organic amendments as the primary management...
This $749,830 federal Project Grant awarded by the Institute of Bioenergy, Climate, and Environment (a division of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) will fund research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to evaluate the potential of "ecological intensification" practices, such as cover crops and manure application, to improve soil health, sequester carbon, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in...
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 $3,300,000 USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Integrated Programs (CFDA 10.303) award, effective September 1, 2024, aims to develop natural, eco-friendly biocontrol approaches for improving organic leafy green production across multiple regions. The key project goals are to enhance microbial safety, sustain crop yields, improve product quality, and analyze consumer perception and cost-benefits. The primary awardee, the University of Connecticut, will lead this...
This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) (CFDA 10.310) totaling $749,045 is designed to comprehensively assess the long-term (10-15 year) impacts of early- and late-terminated cover crops on soil organic carbon pools and soil health indicators within the soil profile to at least 1 meter depth. The project will leverage two existing 10-year experiments in...
The Regents of the University of Minnesota received a $750,000 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (CFDA 10.307 - Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative) to develop educational programs focused on organic animal production. The overarching goals are to: 1) sustain and support the expansion of organic agriculture by building a competent workforce, 2) enhance organic educational programs at land-grant universities,...
This $1,000,000 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (CFDA 10.303 - Integrated Programs) aims to increase sustainable organic production within the Pacific Northwest, Southeast, and Northeast regions of the United States. The key objectives are to evaluate the impacts of integrating livestock grazing under various cropping systems on farms transitioning to organic systems, determine the effects of cover crops and grazing practices on soil health parameters, and assess the impacts of organic crop rotations and livestock grazing on weed control.
The project will establish an integrated crop-livestock study on organically certified fields at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems in North Carolina, led by researchers from North Carolina State University. They will collect soil, greenhouse gas, and crop data, and present the results through extension activities, scientific conferences, and peer-reviewed publications. This project will help reduce knowledge gaps, promote sharing of organic farming techniques, and enhance the sustainability and productivity of farms transitioning to organic systems.