Animals

Raising livestock and producing animal products is a multi-billion-dollar-per-year industry and a significant segment of U.S. agriculture. Research, education, and Extension activities are continually changing to address new challenges and opportunities brought about by rapidly advancing technologies, evolving consumer demand, and the need to improve environmental, human, and animal health and well-being. Funding opportunities for NIFA Animal Systems programs and links to additional programs that support animal projects are provided below.

Animal Production

• Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Foundational and Applied Science Program
  • AFRI Animal Breeding and Functional Annotation of Genomes (A1201)
  • AFRI Animal Reproduction (A1211)
  • AFRI Animal Nutrition, Growth and Lactation (1231)
  • AFRI Commodity Board Co-funding Topics (A1811)

Animal Health

• Animal Health and Disease Research Capacity Program (AHDR)
• National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN)
• Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank (FARAD)
• Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Foundational and Applied Science Program
  • Mitigating Antimicrobial Resistance Across the Food Chain (A1366)
  • Tactical Sciences for Agricultural Biosecurity (A1181)
  • Welfare and Well-Being of Agriculture Animals (A1251)
  • Animal Health (A1221)
  • Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease (A1222)

Animal Systems Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)

• SBIR Phase I
  • Aquaculture (SBIR 8.7)
  • Animal Production and Protection (SBIR 8.3)
• SBIR Phase II
  • Aquaculture (SBIR 8.7)
  • Animal Production and Protection (SBIR 8.3)

Aquaculture

• Special Research Grants
• Regional Aquaculture Centers (RAC) Program 

Cross Cutting Programs

• Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Foundational and Applied Science Program
  • Agriculture Biosecurity (A1181)
  • AFRI Sustainable Agricultural Systems (A9201)
  • Critical Agriculture Research and Extension (A1701)
  • Data Science for Food and Agriculture Systems (A1344)
  • Extension, Education & USDA Climate Hubs Partnership (A1721)
  • Inter-Disciplinary Engagement in Animal Systems (A1261)
  • Reducing Food Loss and Waste across the Supply Chain (A1741)
  • Rapid Response to Extreme Weather Events across Food and Agriculture Systems (A1712)
• Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI)
• Organic Transitions 

Fellowships

• Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Education and Workforce Development
  • Predoctoral fellowships
  • Postdoctoral fellowships

Veterinary Services

• Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP)
• Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP)