By Paiton McDonald, 2024-2027 FFAR Fellow
at Michigan State University

The realization arrived slowly, then all at once. I was the project lead for a 200‑calf trial, responsible for daily measurements that shifted according to each calf’s birthday over 15 months. At first, the solution seemed simple: hire help, stay organized and keep moving. But when a second trial involving adult cows launched at the same time, the workload multiplied overnight. I brought on more students, conducted interview after interview and assembled what felt like a small village of support. Yet even with all hands on deck, it became clear that the system I had built was no longer serving the team—or the science. Something needed to change before the projects slipped beyond control.

In that moment, the lessons I had gained as a FFAR Fellow became unexpectedly essential. Trainings on mentoring, teamwork and recognizing individual strengths shifted from abstract concepts to practical tools. I began to see the students not just as additional help, but as individuals whose abilities could be aligned with the specific demands of each trial. That shift in perspective marked the beginning of a more intentional, sustainable approach to managing the work.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Theo Newbold, 2023-2026 FFAR Fellow
at Pennsylvania State University

Inside the leaves, stems, fruits, flowers and roots of most land plants are communities of bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms that form plants’ microbiomes. Just like your gut microbiome, the collection of microbes that live in your intestines, plants have microbial communities that live in and around their tissues. These microbes communicate with the plant and one another, drive plant health outcomes and shape how the plant interacts with its environment.

As a FFAR Fellow and microbiome science and plant pathology PhD student at the Pennsylvania State University, I study microbes called “fungal endophytes” in corn leaves. Endophytes get their name because they live inside (“endo”) the plant (“phyte”).  Endophytes can both benefit and harm the plant. They provide “beneficials”, with the potential to support plant health against disease and environmental stress, and “commensals” with unknown relationships, good or bad, to their plant host. Still, and even more importantly to me as a plant pathologist, these fungi can be parasites with the ability to cause disease and produce dangerous toxins that put human and livestock health at risk if ingested.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Hamid Syed, 2024-2027 FFAR Fellow
at Auburn University

In agriculture, change is no longer a distant prospect; it’s an urgent reality. With labor shortages escalating and physical demands on workers increasing, the agriculture sector faces its most critical challenges. Yet, there is a beacon of hope: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics. These technologies are not just revolutionizing farming, they are reshaping the entire industry. The integration of AI and robotics in agriculture promises not just productivity, but a transformation that empowers workers, reduces physical strain and provides them with the tools to make smarter, real-time decisions.

As a FFAR Fellow at Auburn University’s Precision Agriculture Lab, my research is focused on harnessing AI-powered systems and robotic technologies to optimize agricultural practices and tackle the industry’s labor challenges. By developing solutions that automate tasks and provide farmers with real-time data, we are enabling smarter decision-making. This approach not only enhances resource management but also reduces reliance on manual labor, allowing workers to shift from routine tasks to higher-level responsibilities. Our work aims to make farming more efficient, sustainable and worker-friendly, providing a foundation for a technologically advanced agricultural future.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Maria Rottersman, 2024-2027 FFAR Fellow
at University of California, Davis

My research can be a hot-button issue. But even as public opinion changes, science keeps a consistent story. I am a Ph.D. student at UC Davis and a FFAR fellow. I study gluten and celiac disease (CeD).

When I tell people this, I get a mixed bag of reactions. Many people are grateful for my research and hopeful that it can contribute to treatment development for gluten intolerances. On the other hand, I find that many of my colleagues can be dismissive of the need for CeD research, attributing it to a diet fad. I do my best to remain objective in my pursuit of knowledge, while still considering real peoples’ narratives. This was difficult for me at first. Early in my PhD, a professor asked what “the point” of my research was since celiac disease already has one very effective treatment: “just don’t eat gluten.” This sentiment threw me for a loop – maybe the avenue I was pursuing was aimless and unwarranted after all. It was only after some keen observation that I began to appreciate the complexity of the gluten-free landscape and the necessity for interdisciplinary research and robust scientific communication surrounding it.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Eva Keohane, 2023-2026 FFAR Fellow
at Colorado State University

Most people have heard the phrase, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” But what if those apples are not the same? Imagine one grown on a rainy, organic farm in New York and another produced conventionally in Colorado’s dry, windy climate. Both are apples, yet their chemical makeup is likely quite different.

Research indicates that wild and domesticated apple varieties can vary widely in compounds called polyphenols—plant chemicals linked to health benefits such as improved gut and heart function. The varied characteristics of polyphenols can affect how they are absorbed in the body and interact with the gut microbiome–the trillions of microbes that help digest food and regulate health. Gut microbes break down polyphenols into smaller molecules that we can absorb, and along the way, polyphenols can support the growth of beneficial microbes. To truly understand how diet shapes health, we need to have a more nuanced view of what’s actually in the foods people eat, down to the chemical level. This is my area of research as a FFAR Fellow at Colorado State University (CSU).

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Olanrewaju Shittu, 2023-2026 FFAR Fellow
at Pennsylvania State University

When people think about the challenges of growing wheat, they often imagine weather, weeds or perhaps even pests. However, for wheat growers in Pennsylvania, one of the most persistent and economically damaging threats is something far less visible at first glance: Fusarium Head Blight (FHB). This fungal disease can devastate yields and contaminate grain with toxic substances.

Fusarium Head Blight, sometimes known as “scab,” is more than just a plant disease. It is a food safety issue, an economic burden and a management challenge, especially for farmers already navigating tight margins. My research as a FFAR Fellow at Penn State University aims to address this problem not in a lab, but on farms, in partnership with the people most affected by it.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Yunqing Wang, 2023-2026 FFAR Fellow
at the California Institute of Technology

Beneath every crop lies a dynamic and invisible ecosystem that plays a vital role in agriculture: the rhizosphere. Microbial communities in this zone drive nutrient cycling, influence greenhouse gas emissions and impact plant productivity. Yet, despite their central role in ecosystem health, we lack the tools to monitor their activity in real time and at scale.

As a FFAR Fellow at the California Institute of Technology, I am developing a sentinel plant platform to serve as a living biosensor to  enable aboveground detection of microbial gene activity in the soil. The vision is to create a system that functions like a “molecular window” into the rhizosphere – similar to how Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) revolutionized cellular biology by allowing scientists to track gene expression and protein activity inside the cell.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Grace Vincent, 2023-2026 FFAR Fellow
at North Carolina State University

In a world where interdisciplinary research is increasingly necessary to solve complex challenges, the ability to step outside one’s field has become essential. Nowhere is this more evident than in efforts to ensure global food security, where plant science, engineering and artificial intelligence must converge to help growers combat crop diseases and improve yields.

Traditional disease identification methods rely on manual surveying, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive and prone to human error. Meanwhile, global crop losses due to biotic stressors amount to an estimated $60 billion annually, making timely mitigation efforts crucial to reducing yield loss. As agricultural challenges grow in complexity, there is a continued need for data-driven solutions to provide faster, more accurate disease recognition.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Lindsay Garcia, 2022-2025 FFAR Fellow
at Oregon State University

The devastating impact of wildfires has grown to be a worldwide concern. In recent years, the most notable destructive wildfires were the 2023 Canadian wildfires and the 2020 Australian bushfires. The 2023 wildfire burned around 4% of Canada’s forest land, marking the largest forest loss in the nation’s recorded history. Meanwhile, the 2020 bushfires became Australia’s most costly wildfire disaster. While the visible destruction of wildfires often captures the media’s attention, there are less obvious effects that can be equally significant. One such impact is in agriculture, specifically vineyards. Smoke from wildfires contains compounds that pass through the grape skin, altering the flavor of the wine. These smoke compounds, called volatile phenols, produce smoky, ashy, and medicinal sensory attributes to the affected wine. Since many wine consumers dislike smoky characteristics in their wine, winemakers lose thousands of dollars from reduced sales. Combined with the physical damage to vineyards, wildfires lead to significant financial losses. For example, the wine industry was hit with an estimated loss of $3.7 billion from the 2020 wildfires alone.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Oluwatuyi Olowoyeye, 2023-2026 FFAR Fellow
at Iowa State University

The Perennial Groundcover (PGC) system is a potential shift away from conventional land management and crop production in the U.S. Unlike traditional cover crops that are terminated and replanted annually, the PGC system provides year-round living cover that grows simultaneously with row crops. PGC has all the benefits of traditional cover crops, including erosion control, water retention and nutrient conservation, but extends these benefits to the entire year. My research as a FFAR Fellow at Iowa State is focused on modeling the ecosystem services in this novel system. Field trials, while essential, are limiting because they can’t include a broad range of scenarios. Modeling allows us to move beyond the limits to simulate, test and forecast the behavior of PGC across various climates, soils and management practices. Yet, modeling PGC is not a plug-and-play endeavor. Because the system involves growing two plants simultaneously, we need to adapt known parameters (like soil moisture, leaf area index etc.) and calibrate new ones (like grass planting operation, soil layer thickness etc.) to fit existing process-based models like Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) and Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM). What makes this research effort unique is the collaborative foundation on which it is built.  

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Mariana Prieto-Torres, 2022-2025 FFAR Fellow
at North Carolina State University

Cucurbit crops include beloved fruits and vegetables such as cucumber, squash, watermelon, melon and pumpkins. These crops are exposed every year to the disease cucurbit downy mildew which reduces yield and quality of the fruit . Farmers currently manage downy mildew with weekly fungicide applications, which commonly start a few weeks after the seeds have been planted. These fungicide applications are more effective when they are applied preventatively at very early stages of the disease. My research as a PhD student and FFAR Fellow at North Carolina State University is about optimizing the use of fungicides to have the most effective disease management while reducing the number of fungicide applications

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Nikki Shrestha, 2022-2025 FFAR Fellow
at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Plant breeding has come a long way since farmers first began saving seeds from the best plants thousands of years ago. Today, breeders use cutting-edge tools like genomic sequencing to identify genes linked to specific traits of interest. My research focuses on improving how we measure these traits, which is crucial for accurately finding the genes responsible for them.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Mei Ling Wong, 2022-2025 FFAR Fellow
at Montana State University 

The goal of my project as a FFAR Fellow in the wheat breeding program is to verify genetic components that influence the number of grains per wheat head and pinpoint the genes that determine these, potentially increasing grain yield for wheat producers. We are testing two variants of a genetic region (alleles): one associated with high grain number, the other with low grain number. The data collection process requires measuring a wide range of plant characteristics, such as height, leaf area and grain number. These traits are necessary for evaluating the performance of breeding lines and understanding the complex trade-off between different traits in plants, factors important for developing high-yielding varieties. However, measuring numerous traits is labor-intensive and time-consuming, particularly when dealing with a large number of plants.

To be honest, most of the work that we needed help with in the breeding program was not the most groundbreaking or exciting, but was crucially necessary for the project’s success. For example, weeding in fields, cleaning seeds, threshing wheat heads and washing pots. An unexpected but critical challenge for our research became this: If scientific research requires many tedious and repetitive tasks like these, how can we ensure that undergraduate researchers remain engaged and motivated in our lab?

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Heeduk Oh, 2022-2025 FFAR Fellow
a North Carolina State University 

Blueberries are a beloved fruit, enjoyed for their pleasant flavor and health benefits. The production of blueberries has increased almost 5-fold during the last 20 years largely due to successful breeding efforts that have expanded the areas suitable for their production. My research is focused on helping breeding programs develop blueberry varieties with a firmer texture that is appealing to consumers while protecting the berries from damage during harvest and transport.

Fruit texture is one of the fruit quality traits that can change drastically during transport and storage and can have significant consequences on both consumer experience and marketability. Currently cultivated varieties (cultivars) often produce fruit with variable texture that fails to consistently meet consumer expectations. Moreover, fruit from most cultivars are insufficiently firm and susceptible to internal bruising, making it challenging for machine harvest. As a result, developing blueberries with firmer berries that do not soften quickly during storage has become a crucial goal for breeding programs.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Samuele Lamon, 2022-2025 FFAR Fellow
at the University of Georgia

The history of peanuts is fascinating. They originated less than 10,000 years ago from the natural crossbreeding of two wild species, Arachis duranensis and Arachis ipaënsis. This crossbreeding was followed by polyploidization, where the hybrid offspring ended up with four sets of chromosomes instead of two. Although initially reducing genetic diversity and isolating peanuts from closely related species, polyploidization also led to significant changes in peanut DNA, increasing their genetic diversity over time. Today, peanuts are incredibly diverse, with two subspecies, six botanical varieties, four major market types and thousands of landraces and cultivars. My research focuses on these DNA changes and the effects of genetic instability in peanut crops. By understanding the frequency and location of these changes in peanut chromosomes, we aim to help breeders create new peanut varieties that meet current agricultural needs and reduce farming’s environmental impact.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Riley Reed, 2022-2025 FFAR Fellow
at Washington State University

Insects are responsible for pollinating many of our favorite foods ranging from apples to chocolate. In fact, nearly 100 crops globally either require or benefit from animal pollination. Many different animals are capable of pollinating, including bees, flies, beetles, and even bats, but honey bees are by far the most widely used pollinators in agriculture. Honey bees generally work really well with our agricultural system, allowing migratory beekeepers to quickly transport huge numbers of pollinators to a blooming crop and then remove them just as quickly when they are no longer needed. Of course, the delicious honey they make certainly sweetens the pot too! Unfortunately, this system isn’t quite as good for the bees. Honey bees need a much more diverse diet than they can acquire from a single crop, forcing some of the bees to look for food outside the field or orchard. Normally this isn’t a problem because there are still plenty of bees in the field, but for seed crops this presents a big risk.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Caleb J. Grohmann, 2021-2024 FFAR Fellow
at the University of Missouri

Livestock producers make several critical decisions daily that impact the health of animals and the farmer’s bottom line. Yet the supply of quality livestock technicians and managers who can make these decisions is decreasing across all sectors of animal agriculture, especially in the United States swine industry. Precision livestock farming technologies offer an interesting opportunity to provide support in making accurate decisions that positively impact the productivity and sustainability of swine operations. In my Ph.D. research at the University of Missouri–Columbia, we are striving to build tools to help pig farmers proactively and positively impact pig survivability in wean-to-finish pig barns.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Shiang-Wan Chin, 2021-2024 FFAR Fellow
at Cornell University

In an era in which sustainable agriculture is not just a choice but a necessity, my research with Dr. Hakeem Weatherspoon at Cornell University introduces a groundbreaking decision support system named Real-Time Optimization and Management System (ROAM). This innovative system is the cornerstone of my research, signifying an advancement in the realm of Digital Agriculture (DA).

ROAM isn’t merely a technological advancement; it’s the embodiment of a new era of data in farming called digital agriculture. By integrating state-of-the-art networking technologies and sophisticated data analysis, ROAM transforms traditional farms into network-enabled farms. This revolutionary technology enables farms to make data-driven decisions and optimize operations in real-time for better productivity and sustainability.

Central to ROAM is the Many-Objective Robust Decision Making (MORDM) framework. This advanced framework is integrated into an intuitive user interface, offering farmers a seamless and efficient decision-making tool. MORDM’s ability to handle multiple objectives and variables makes ROAM even more broadly applicable to providing robust and adaptable solutions to the ever-changing challenges in agriculture

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Madeline Desjardins, 2022-2025 FFAR Fellow
at Washington State University

Like most people, I once spent virtually no time thinking about the content of toilets and where those contents went after a flush. This all changed when I began my Ph.D. work in Dr. Deirdre Griffin LaHue’s Soil Health Lab at Washington State University. With funding from the FFAR Fellows Program and the King County Wastewater Treatment Division, my graduate research focuses on how biosolid byproducts from our waste stream can improve soil health and support sustainable agricultural production.

My research focuses on how biosolids influence the physical, biological, and chemical soil health properties of semi-arid dryland grain systems, and whether biosolids can help growers establish cover crops in these systems. The geography of this research is in dryland systems in Central Washington. These systems face some specific challenges related to water availability that can severely limit crop yields. Annual precipitation in this area is low (~10 inches of precipitation a year), and these systems rely solely on precipitation to meet the water needs of the crop (this means they are completely unirrigated).

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Enrique Pena, 2021-2024 FFAR Fellow
at North Carolina State University

Occasionally, I will read an article that a friend, family member or colleague has shared with me about groundbreaking advancements in agriculture, and it usually starts with a title like “All in one planter: till, seed, and fertilize in a single pass” or “Autonomous tractors! Let a robot farm for you”. I always think, “Wow, this is really cool!” And then, I notice little interest from farmers to adopt these technologies. Despite being available in the marketplace, many of these innovations do not gain enough traction to become normalized in the industry. Drones provide a good example of this, as farmers have been reluctant to invest in these despite the decades the technology has been available. Over time, I have seen the gap widen between the number of innovations breaking into the market and the number of farmers adopting them. Why is this the case? I believe that we, as scientists and innovators, need to improve our communication strategies to boost the adoption of valuable agricultural technologies.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Conor McCabe, 2021-2024 FFAR Fellow
at the University of California-Davis

How does cattle production impact the climate? Microbes that reside within the stomach of cows break down the grasses and plants they eat. These microbes also form the greenhouse gas methane, which is released into the atmosphere via cattle burps. Our lab studies various plant compounds, products and feed ingredients that have the potential to reduce this methane source. While a single graduate student coordinates the design of one of these studies and leads it to completion, it takes a dedicated team to make it all happen. As the lead graduate student on a recent project, it was my role to recruit, manage students and create community, which made for a challenging but invaluable growth experience as an aspiring scientist….

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Sujan Paudel, 2021-2024 FFAR Fellow
at the University of Georgia

Within the U.S., Georgia is famously known for its Vidalia onion industry. These onions were first grown in Toombs County, South Georgia. Their unique flat shape with a sweet taste led to immediate popularity among growers and consumers. The distinct quality of this onion is due to the low amount of sulfur in the soil which cuts down the acidity and pungency making them sweeter than most other varieties. The continued growth of the industry and Vidalia’s increasing popularity did create branding problems where onions brought from outside were bagged and sold as Vidalias. The Federal Market Order 955 in 1989 defined the growing regions and mandated the growers to register and use specific varieties that provided national protection to the industry. This branding support and advancements in storage conditions oversaw the further growth of the industry which accounts for a staggering $160 million farm gate value and is now spread across 12,000 acres in 20 counties of South Georgia. My research, as a plant pathology Ph.D. candidate at the University of Georgia, aims to help protect this industry from deadly bacterial diseases..

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Matt Davis, 2022-2025 FFAR Fellow
at University of California – Davis

With the impact of climate change on agriculture becoming ever-more apparent, food producers and researchers need to be able to adapt quickly to environmental pressures. A greater reliance on nut crops could play an important role in this adaptation. Nuts are nutritionally dense and one of the most climate efficient food sources of protein. For example, producing 100 grams of beef protein generates almost 50 Kg of greenhouse gases, which is more than 150 times the greenhouse gas emissions produced for the same amount of nut protein.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.

By Ellie Ellis, 2021-2024 FFAR Fellow
at Colorado State University

Some people claim there is a growing disconnect between agricultural research and the farmers who are supposed to benefit from the findings of this research.While controlled experiments are great for understanding specific agronomic outcomes, they are not well suited for studying the impacts on farm economics, neighboring farmers, or the surrounding ecosystem.

Continue reading at the FFAR Blog.