Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Foundational and Applied Science Program: Soil Health

The application deadline is October 16, 2025.
The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) is America’s flagship competitive grants program that provides funding for fundamental and applied research, education, and extension projects in the food and agricultural sciences. Funding is available for numerous priorities in six program areas. The Soil Health program offers standard, workshop, and FASE (Strengthening Standard, New Investigator, Strengthening Workshop, Seed, Equipment, and Sabbatical) grants ranging from $50,000 to $300,000. Applications can address one or more of the following priorities: Evaluation of the effects of management practices on soil microbial community function and their contribution to healthy soils; or assessment and/or development of innovative and/or appropriate approaches, practices, techniques, tools and technologies that improve the understanding and/or management of
the physical and biogeochemical processes contributing to soil health.