Project Grant 20266702345960

Federal Grant Award Summary

Purdue University received a $591,431 Project Grant award effective March 1, 2026, through February 28, 2029, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310). The project will develop a weather-smart simulator tool that integrates real farm yield records from thousands of farms with historical and projected weather information to estimate how yields and commodity prices may evolve during the growing season. The simulator will connect observed yield patterns to specific weather conditions, including extreme heat and heavy rainfall events, and will run multiple simulated scenarios to compare financial outcomes associated with different crop insurance choices and pre-harvest marketing strategies.

The primary deliverables include farmer- and stakeholder-friendly materials such as fact sheets, brief reports, and presentations that translate project findings into actionable guidance for producers, agricultural advisors, and policymakers. These materials will be disseminated through extension programs and a public website to address the critical challenge of farm financial risk management in an environment of increasing weather uncertainty. By providing practical tools to evaluate risk management strategies at the individual farm level—accounting for variations in soil, topography, management practices, and localized weather impacts—the project aims to improve decision-making guidance beyond traditional county-average approaches and better inform crop insurance and marketing policy decisions.