The Swine Health Information Center, in collaboration with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research and the Pork Checkoff, announced a second request for proposal submissions from qualified researchers for funding consideration to study H5N1 Risk to Swine research priorities not yet adequately addressed. Round one and two research awards are part of a $4 million program to enhance prevention, preparedness, mitigation, and response capabilities for H5N1 influenza in the US swine herd. In July 2025, 10 H5N1 research projects were funded by the organizations in round one.
Described in the detailed Request for Research Proposals, topic areas for the second round of H5N1 research proposals include 1) surveillance, 2) introduction risks, 3) caretakers, 4) biosecurity, 5) pork safety, 6) production impact, and 7) business continuity.
Total funding available for the SHIC/FFAR/NPB H5N1 Risk to Swine Research Priorities included in this RFP is $1.8 million. Individual awards are capped at $250,000; however, proposals may exceed the cap if sufficient justification is provided. Matching funds are encouraged but not required; the $250,000 cap applies only to those funds requested from SHIC/FFAR/NPB. All projects should strive to have a high impact, demonstrate value to pork producers, and provide pork industry-wide benefit.
The deadline for proposal submission is 5:00 pm CT on March 24, 2026. The proposal template and instructions for completion and submission can be found here. For questions, please contact Dr. Megan Niederwerder at [email protected] or (785)452-8270 or Dr. Lisa Becton at [email protected] or (515)724-9491.
Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research
The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) builds public-private partnerships to fund bold research addressing big food and agriculture challenges. FFAR was established in the 2014 Farm Bill to increase public agriculture research investments, fill knowledge gaps and complement the U.S. Department Agriculture’s research agenda. FFAR’s model matches federal funding from Congress with private funding, delivering a powerful return on taxpayer investment. Through collaboration and partnerships, FFAR advances actionable science benefiting farmers, consumers and the environment.
Swine Health Information Center
The Swine Health Information Center, launched in 2015 with Pork Checkoff funding, protects and enhances the health of the US swine herd by minimizing the impact of emerging disease threats through preparedness, coordinated communications, global disease monitoring, analysis of swine health data, and targeted research investments. As a conduit of information and research, SHIC encourages sharing of its publications and research. Forward, reprint, and quote SHIC material freely. For more information, visit http://www.swinehealth.org or contact Dr. Megan Niederwerder at [email protected] or Dr. Lisa Becton at [email protected].
