| Media contact: NIFA Director of Communications Faith Peppers, (816) 745-0959)
KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 8, 2021 –The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) recently awarded $6.72 million in funding for 15 grants to enhance animal reproduction, and $4.05 million in funding for 8 grants that will improve the welfare and well-being of agricultural animals. "NIFA invests in science-based management practices that help America's agricultural enterprises thrive, while meeting growing consumer demand for high-quality food and rigorous sustainable agriculture practices," said NIFA Director Carrie Castille. These 23 grants are part of NIFA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, the nation's leading competitive grants program for agricultural sciences. The 15 Animal Reproduction awards are for projects that will address better strategies for animal production systems by enhancing reproductive management. These advances will come from basic and applied research on the cellular, molecular, genomic, and whole animal aspects of animal reproduction. Some project highlights include: University of Northern Colorado's project, "Influence of Fish Oil on Corpus Luteum Function," will explore reducing early embryonic mortality and improve profitability in farm animals through supplemental feeding strategies. Pennsylvania State University's project, "Photoperiodic Regulation of Reproduction in the Turkey Hen," will develop strategies for alleviating production inefficiency due to the limited lay period. The 8 animal well-being grants are awarded by NIFA to advance research to understand how to better assess well-being in agricultural animals, while also identifying and lessening negative effects of stressors on farm animals. Enhancing the overall well-being of farm animals increases profitability and assures consumers that they have abundant, safe, nutritious, and affordable food animal products. Some project highlights include: University of California' project, "Alleviation of Acute and Long-term Pain Associated with Disbudding Dairy Calves," will explore possible ways to reduce pain in dairy calves, from short-term pain relief through the healing process, and will inform best practices in the day-to-day care of dairy calves on farms. University of New Mexico's project, "Elucidating the Role of Beta Defensins in Stress Response in Rainbow Trout," will develop antimicrobial peptide targeted therapeutics that minimize stress-derived losses in trout farming. NIFA invests in and advances agricultural research, education, and Extension across the nation to make transformative discoveries that solve societal challenges. NIFA supports initiatives that ensure the long-term viability of agriculture and applies an integrated approach to ensure that groundbreaking discoveries in agriculture-related sciences and technologies reach the people who can put them into practice. In FY2020, NIFA's total investment was $1.95 billion. Visit our website: www.nifa.usda.gov; Twitter: @USDA_NIFA; LinkedIn: USDA-NIFA. To learn more about NIFA's impact on agricultural science, visit www.nifa.usda.gov/impacts. ### USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. | 
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