High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) is an informal collaboration of academics devoted to Latter-day Saints historical scholarship. The group is formally part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, formerly known as the Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts, at Brigham Young University (BYU). It is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).