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The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) today announced the launch of the Resilient Agriculture Finance and Insurance Research Collaborative, a research initiative to advance finance and insurance solutions that benefit U.S. farmers and ranchers. The Research Collaborative will solicit initial research proposals in January 2026. Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to register for an interactive webinar on December 11, 2025 at 2 pm EST that will provide an opportunity for researchers to build new relationships with industry partners.  

“U.S. farmers are facing increasingly challenging weather and economic conditions, making it more difficult to consistently and profitably grow the crops that sustain both their livelihoods and our food system,” said Vincent Gauthier, Senior Manager for Climate-Smart Agriculture at EDF. “This critical research collaborative will help shape financing and insurance solutions that enable farmers to invest in practices that boost their resilience and access the coverage they need to support this transition.”  

The Resilient Agriculture Finance and Insurance Research Collaborative will support finance and insurance innovations that provide producers and agribusinesses with science-based strategies that strengthen soil health, improve water use efficiency, and build farmer resiliency to extreme weather events.  

“Collaboration between researchers and industry partners is a cornerstone of this initiative,” said FFAR Scientific Program Director Allison Thomson. “We are looking for collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches to develop actionable science-backed financial solutions that work for U.S. farmers and ranchers.”  

Key priorities for the Resilient Agriculture Finance and Insurance Research Collaborative include:  

• Financing the Transition to Resilient Practices: Evaluating returns on investment and risks of adopting resilient practices to inform agricultural lending solutions for these practices.
• Aligning Resilient Practices with Risk and Insurance Outcomes: Assessing how resilient practices impact yield stability, production risk, and insurance outcomes to guide insurance solutions.
• Valuing Resilience in Farmland and Mortgage Markets: Analyzing how resilient practices affect land value, collateral, and loan repayment capacity to inform appraisal and underwriting models. 

The Resilient Agriculture Finance and Insurance Research Collaborative will launch its request for proposals on January 15, 2026. More funding opportunity details will be available on the Cornell Atkinson website.  

“This effort is about doing research differently. We’re bringing researchers and industry leaders together. At Cornell Atkinson we see this as essential to moving research to impact,” said Alan Martinez, Climate and Nature Finance Strategic Partnerships Lead at Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.   

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 of 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.  

Connect:  @FoundationFAR 

Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability 

The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability is the hub for sustainability research at Cornell University. By connecting Cornell research with government agencies, nonprofits, and industry partners, the center accelerates work to reduce climate risks, advance energy transitions, strengthen food security, and support One Health. Grounded in a research-to-impact mission, Cornell Atkinson maximizes the university’s influence on public opinion, corporate practices, product innovation, and government policies related to sustainability.  

Connect: Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, @AtkinsonCenter 

Environmental Defense Fund 

With more than 3 million members, Environmental Defense Fund creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. To do so, EDF links science, economics, law, and innovative private-sector partnerships to turn solutions into action. 

Connect: https://www.edf.org/ 

Viasat (VSAT) is back in focus after a one two punch of product momentum and new client wins, from upgraded NexusWave maritime connectivity to a fresh in flight Wi Fi deal with Azerbaijan Airlines.

See our latest analysis for Viasat.

Those connectivity wins come after a volatile stretch for the stock, with a roughly 252 percent year to date share price return and a 263 percent one year total shareholder return, suggesting momentum is very much rebuilding around the Viasat story.

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With the shares up more than 250 percent this year but still trading at a steep intrinsic discount and only a modest gap to Wall Street targets, is Viasat a mispriced turnaround, or is the market already banking on years of growth?

With Viasat closing at $33.57 against a narrative fair value of $36.25, the implied upside leans modestly positive, hinging on improving profitability and capital discipline.

The focus on operational efficiency, portfolio review, and progressing integration with Inmarsat, in addition to CapEx peaking with the ViaSat-3 program, sets up Viasat for positive free cash flow inflection, deleveraging, and earnings improvement as major investment cycles wind down. Rising government and commercial interest in bridging the digital divide, especially in underserved and remote areas, provides a multi-year tailwind through subsidy programs and public/private contracts, supporting stable, recurring revenue streams and margin visibility.

Read the complete narrative.

Want to see the math behind that upside call? The narrative leans on slower but steady revenue gains, sharply better margins, and a future earnings multiple that might surprise you.

Result: Fair Value of $36.25 (UNDERVALUED)

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However, execution risk around ViaSat-3 spending and intensifying competition from Starlink and Project Kuiper could quickly undermine the turnaround narrative that investors are embracing.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Companies discussed in this article include VSAT.

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