Project Grant 20236701245938
- This $180,000 Project Grant award from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program will support research at North Dakota State University (NDSU) to evaluate the impacts of feeding supplemental protein to pregnant beef cattle grazing low-quality pastures. The key objectives are to assess how maternal diet during pregnancy affects skeletal muscle development and growth in the offspring, with the goal of developing...
- This $650,000 project grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310) will fund research into mitigating early embryonic loss in beef cattle. Texas A&M Agrilife Research will study the physiological and molecular effects of supplementing beef cows with omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids during early embryonic development. The research aims to clarify the mechanisms...
- The federal Project Grant award of $650,000.00 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program supports research by Colorado State University to improve fertility and reproductive efficiency in the beef and dairy cattle industries. The project aims to activate the Nrf2 signaling pathway in bovine preimplantation embryos to mitigate oxidative stress and enhance embryo survival under suboptimal conditions,...
- The Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded a $120,000 Project Grant under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program to Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University from July 2021 through June 2023. The grant funds research to investigate embryonic losses occurring during blastocyst hatching and embryo elongation in cattle, which can significantly impact the cattle industry. The principal investigator will...
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) was awarded a $180,000 project grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture to study early embryonic development in cattle through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program. The goal of the three-year project beginning June 1, 2023 is to prevent pregnancy loss in cattle and humans, which accounts for over half of pregnancies in the first month...
- The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) was awarded a $1,750,000 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program. The grant, awarded on September 1, 2023, with a completion date of August 31, 2027, will support research to understand the metabolic pathways and mitochondrial dynamics activated during ovulation and luteinization in beef cattle. The goals of the...
- This $650,000 Project Grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will fund research under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program. The awardee, the Agricultural Research Service located in Fort Collins, Colorado, will develop techniques using strategically-coated magnetic nano-particles to remove defective spermatozoa from bull semen. Field studies will then evaluate the reproductive potential of the...
- This $500,000 project grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) supports research under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive federal grants program (AFRI; CFDA #10.310). The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University will characterize differences in early embryonic development and uterine environments between cattle breeds that are more resilient to undernutrition and less prone to pregnancy loss,...
- This $650,000 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) will fund research into improving cattle welfare during transportation. Iowa State University will examine the effects of supplementing cattle diets with 100 parts per million of zinc before or after 24-hour trucking to help the animals recover more quickly from stress and fatigue. Researchers will measure...
- Washington State University received a $300,000 project grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310), awarded February 1, 2026, with a completion date of January 31, 2028. The research project addresses pregnancy loss in dairy cattle, a significant economic burden to the U.S. cattle industry estimated at approximately $1 billion annually. The grant funds scientific investigation into parent-specific...
IN MANY PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES LEVELS OF SELENIUM ARE DEFICIENT IN THE SOILS. THIS TRANSLATES TO DEFICIENCIES OF THIS ESSENTIALTRACE MINERAL IN THE FORAGES THAT SUSTAIN GRAZING CATTLE. PRODUCERS MUST THEREFORE SUPPLEMENT SELENIUM TO THEIR CATTLE TO ALLEVIATETHE NEGATIVE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF THIS DEFICIENCY. SELENIUM IS NORMALLY PROVIDED TO CATTLE IN AN INORGANIC FORM; HOWEVER,ORGANIC FORMS ARE CONSUMED WHEN CATTLE NATURALLY GRAZE FORAGE. PREVIOUS RESEARCH HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT COMPARED TOSUPPLEMENTING SELENIUM AS A PURELY INORGANIC FORM, PROVIDING SELENIUM AS A MIXED BLEND COMPOSED OF 50% INORGANIC AND 50%ORGANIC SELENIUM ADVANCES THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPTUS AT MATERNAL RECOGNITION OF PREGNANCY, THE CRITICAL PERIOD WHEN THEEMBRYO SIGNALS TO THE MOTHER THAT IT IS PRESENT AND PREPARING TO IMPLANT WITHIN THE UTERUS. THIS TIMING IS CONCURRENT WITH CHANGESIN METABOLITES IN THE BLOOD AND TRANSCRIPTIONAL CHANGES IN THE ENDOMETRIUM SUGGESTING THAT THE MIXED FORM OF SELENIUM ISALTERING AVAILABLE ENERGY AND METABOLITES THAT SUPPORT CONCEPTUS DEVELOPMENT. THIS STUDY WILL DETERMINE THE MECHANISTICCONNECTION AMONG FORMS OF SELENIUM, METABOLIC CHANGES IN THE LIVER, AND ENERGY AVAILABILITY IN THE ENDOMETRIUM, OPERATING WITHTHE HYPOTHESIS THAT THESE CHANGES WILL FAVORABLY FACILITATE AN ENVIRONMENT STIMULATING CONCEPTUS DEVELOPMENT AND VIABILITY. IT ISEXPECTED THAT THE PROVISION OF THE MIXED BLEND OF SELENIUM AS A NECESSARY SUPPLEMENT WILL MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF OXIDATIVESTRESS IN THE LIVER AND ENDOMETRIUM RESULTING IN INCREASED AVAILABILITY OF METABOLITES AND LIPIDS FOR UTILIZATION BY THE ENDOMETRIUMAND SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ELONGATING CONCEPTUS. THIS STUDY WILL CONNECT THE METABOLIC CHANGES IN THE LIVER WITH THE PHYSIOLOGICALRESPONSES IN THE ENDOMETRIUM WHEN SUPPLEMENTING SELENIUM AS A BLEND OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC FORMS, COMPARED TO THEINDUSTRY STANDARD OF INORGANIC SELENIUM ALONE. IMPLICATIONS OF THIS RESEARCH ARE THE WIDESPREAD ADOPTION OF A DIFFERENTFORMULATION OF SUPPLEMENTAL SELENIUM THAT WILL IMPROVE EMBRYONIC GROWTH AND OVERALL FERTILITY IN COW/CALF OPERATIONS, AND HENCETHE PRODUCTIVITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF THE BEEF INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $59.5k | 2/10/26 |