The USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded a $650,000 grant under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program to the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. to investigate the role of sclerostin (SOST) in regulating bone, muscle, and fat development in laying hens. The project aims to develop new strategies such as genetic selection or feed additives to improve bone health, body composition, and feed efficiency in the poultry industry. The...
The University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. (UGA Research Foundation) was awarded a $749,434 Project Grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program. The grant, which runs from June 1, 2024 to May 31, 2027, supports three research and extension objectives focused on pastured poultry farming systems: 1) analyzing chickens' diets and impacts on pests, beneficial insects, and weeds through molecular...
The University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. was awarded a three-year, $612,800 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative federal grant program (AFRI, CFDA #10.310). The grant will fund research examining the role of gut microbiota in driving behavioral and welfare changes in laying hens during stressful scenarios. Specifically, the university will determine the effects...
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...
The University of Delaware will conduct research to characterize the reproductive microbiome of the layer hen under a $180,000 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The grant is awarded through NIFA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) competitive grants program, which provides funding for fundamental and applied research, extension, and education addressing food and agricultural sciences. Specifically,...
The University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. was awarded $650,000 under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) competitive grants program administered by the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The five-year project grant will fund research into the impacts of highly anabolic diets on early embryonic development and offspring performance in beef cattle. Specifically, the awardee will study how bull diets can influence embryo...
This $650,000 Project Grant from the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) will fund research at the University of Maryland, College Park from June 2023 through May 2026. The grant will support three specific research aims. The first two aims will study the effects of in ovo administration of corticosterone hormone on production of major hormones regulating growth in chickens, and the impacts of embryonic...
The Agricultural Research Service will receive $650,000 from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program to fund a three-year research project examining the relationship between the thyroid and reproductive axes and its implications for egg production rates in turkey hens. The project aims to define the regulatory role of thyroid hormones in controlling hen egg production and characterize pituitary responsiveness to...
This $1,000,000 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 the development of holistic interventions to address infectious diseases and heat stress exacerbated by climate change challenges facing the $34.68 billion U.S. egg industry. Over four years, researchers at The Ohio State University will work with egg supply chain stakeholders to...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded a $591,500 Project Grant under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) to Purdue University to conduct research aimed at addressing catastrophic keel bone damage experienced by up to 73% of egg laying hens. The research project, with a performance period from September 2023 to September 2026, will develop and deploy new sensor technologies as well as construct an animal...
The University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. was awarded a $650,000 project grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program. The grant, which runs from August 1, 2024 to July 31, 2027, will fund research to identify key biological systems and processes associated with laying hens' utilization of calcium and phosphorus for eggshell and bone mineralization. The project aims to evaluate how these systems and processes change with the hens' age and are influenced by dietary supplementation with a more biologically active form of Vitamin D3. The research will focus on studying the mechanisms involving hormone regulation, mineral uptake and transport, and metabolism of dietary Vitamin D3 in tissues like the shell gland, kidney, intestine, and liver. The project is expected to elucidate fundamental biological processes regulating laying hens' calcium and phosphorus homeostasis and identify novel biomarkers for improved eggshell quality and skeletal strength, particularly in older hens undergoing extended production cycles.