The State Department has launched eight Feed the Future Innovation Labs at seven U.S. land-grant universities, putting American researchers to work on crop pests, livestock disease and depleted soils abroad before those threats reach U.S. farms and grocery shelves.
The department announced the labs Oct. 15. Kansas State University will host two of them, the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Cereals and the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Sustainable Intensification of Targeted Agricultural Systems, or SITAS, which together have received $16.6 million for the next two years. The University of Georgia's peanut lab carries a $9 million first-year obligation, and Mississippi State University's fish lab carries $8 million, both under awards of up to five years.
The remaining labs are Auburn University's Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fertilizer and Soil Health, the University of Florida's lab for high-value crops, the University of Hawaii's lab for coffee and cacao and Washington State University's lab for animal health. University-led international agricultural research returns $8 for every $1 invested, according to the State Department.
The labs return after a gap. The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities said 16 of the 17 labs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development closed when the agency shut down in July 2025, leaving only the K-State cereals lab.
Breeding cereals for stress
The Cereals Innovation Lab will work on breeding wheat, millet, sorghum and rice to withstand heat, drought, cold and disease. Those four crops account for nearly half of the world's caloric intake, according to K-State.
Nina Lilja, the lab's director and associate dean of international programs in K-State's College of Agriculture, tied the work directly to the 2026 Kansas harvest.
"The U.S. is not immune to many of these plant stresses, with the 2026 Kansas wheat crop suffering nearly 40% yield reduction from drought conditions," Lilja said.
K-State's partners on the cereals lab include Clemson University, Cornell University, Louisiana State University, Purdue University, Texas A&M University and the University of Florida, working with scientists in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Senegal.
The SITAS lab will work in eight countries across the Indo-Pacific, Central America and the Lobito Corridor on crop productivity, water use, fertilizer and soil, artificial intelligence and smart sensors. K-State said the results will also inform crop production and resource management in Kansas.
Peanuts and fish
Peanuts are a crop with more than $1 billion in U.S. farm gate value, but global yields average roughly 62% below U.S. levels, according to the University of Georgia. The peanut lab will use artificial intelligence, remote sensing and genomics to speed breeding across a regional testing network in Africa, and it plans to train more than 100 U.S. and international researchers and students.
"It's also a multiuse crop serving as a source of income, improving soil health and even providing animal feed," said David Hoisington, the lab's co-director.
Mississippi State's fish lab will set research priorities that include aquatic feeds, genetics, fish health and trade. Its predecessor supported 30 research activities in 10 countries.
"We want to develop practical technologies that producers and businesses will adopt, create opportunities for U.S. companies in growing international markets, and address threats such as aquatic animal diseases before they reach American production systems," said Mark Lawrence, the lab's director.
Animal health and funding
Washington State's lab will focus on animal health. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Wash., pointed to livestock disease threats in an Oct. 19 statement.
"Animal diseases, like the New World screwworm, threaten farmers' livelihoods, our food supply and the prices families pay at the grocery store," Baumgartner said.
Baumgartner's office said he voted to include $72 million for the labs in fiscal year 2026 appropriations. The State Department announcement did not list award totals for each lab.
