Thomas Björkman is trying to revolutionize the American broccoli industry. An associate professor of horticulture at Cornell’s Geneva Agricultural Experiment Station, Björkman is principal investigator of a project that seeks to turn East Coast broccoli into a $100 million enterprise. The effort launched in 2010 with a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the USDA; the researchers recently applied for an extension, requesting an additional $5.2 million in support. Björkman and his colleagues aim to see 25,000 acres of broccoli planted by 2020—enough to supply between a quarter and a third of what’s consumed in the region—compared with about 8,000 acres in 2007. “It’s a high-value crop,” says Björkman, noting that broccoli can garner $10,000 an acre, some fifteen times the revenue of field corn. “There’s the chance to make a lot of money if you have the right market.”