A $1 million grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to a team led by A&M professor H. Morgan Scott, according to an A&M news release Monday. 

The grant, which was one of 35 announced by the USDA, is administered by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and will go towards research that encourages safe and nutritious food, according to the release. 

Strains of bacteria have developed a resistance to antimicrobials — which include antibiotics — which has led to a growing concern about food safety in animal agriculture. Scott, a professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, and his team of researchers will focus mainly on addressing concerns of antimicrobial resistance. 

“Antimicrobial resistance is an extremely critical, high-profile issue for animal agriculture and food animal medicine, especially so for a state like Texas with the largest number of beef cattle on feed in the country, and for Texas A&M, which boasts strong programs in agriculture, veterinary medicine and public health,” Scott said in the release. 

Scott’s team will attempt to identify and impose strategies for combating antimicrobial resistance by implementing stewardship programs for beef and dairy cattle systems. In addition the release said, the research team will conduct field studies and create models to gain a better understanding of the economics, microbiology and social sciences behind antimicrobial resistance. 

“Texas A&M and its strategic partners are well placed to address these and other urgent issues at the interface of agriculture and public health,” Scott said. “This grant helps to illustrate our expertise and prominence in this subject area.”