SoAR champions food and agricultural research in the United States and globally.
Together with our partners, we are dedicated to growing public investments in agricultural research to support sustainable, thriving farms and a food-secure world that minimizes stress on natural resources.
Mission
Vision
SoAR’s vision is a doubling of U.S. public investments in agricultural research by 2030.
Soar is a national nonprofit organization that champions research and innovation to solve agriculture's most pressing challenges.
As funding for agricultural research plummets, productivity slows, and extreme weather events and food insecurity increase, it’s no question that the future of food and agriculture is in jeopardy.
Through advocacy, storytelling, and problem solving, SoAR finds solutions to ensure a future where agricultural productivity, sustainability, and food security are guaranteed.
What We Do
SoAR is the only organization solely dedicated to agricultural research. We are guided by a network of experts in the field. Our governance board is made up of esteemed scholars, leaders from industry and award-winning scientists.
Our work is guided by SoAR’s Science Advisory Committee, an all-scientist body that ensures SoAR is advancing the best and most needed scientific breakthroughs.
Why SoAR?
Dr. William Danforth & Mr. John McDonnell, St Louis, 2010
Soar was founded in 2014 by Dr. William Danforth to advocate for full funding of the Agriculture Food and Research Initiative (AFRI), USDA’s flagship competitive grants program.
The SoAR team, along with its partners, were successful in raising the USDA Agricultural and Food Research Initiative’s annual budget to $455 million.
SoAR continues working toward our founder’s goals of increasing federal investments in agricultural research and producing the best possible food and agriculture science to meet some of the greatest challenges of the 21st century.