A nearly $4 million investment is bringing increased opportunities to farmstead operations and dairy processing businesses across the Midwest. The Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA), a partnership between the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA) and the Center for Dairy Research (CDR), today announces 41 grants available to the industry, which will be awarded through the DBIA’s Dairy Business Builder and Dairy Industry Impact grant programs.
“In the Midwest and across the United States, a robust network of individual dairy businesses is key to a strong dairy industry. We are thrilled to support dairy entrepreneurs in their continued growth and their contributions to the overall health of our dairy industry,” added WCMA Executive Director John Umhoefer.
As a press release explained, 37 of the 41 grants are Dairy Business Builder grants targeting small-to-medium-size farmers or processors; supported projects are aimed at diversifying on-farm activity, creating value-added products, and enhancing dairy by-products or export programs. In the latest round, DBIA will distribute 37 Dairy Business Builder grants totaling $3.3 million in nine of the 11 states covered by the DBIA.
DBIA will also be awarding four Dairy Industry Impact grants totaling $400,000 to small dairy processing businesses in Wisconsin and Minnesota. This grant program supports projects in targeted topic areas that have the potential to positively impact the dairy industry as a whole.
“These grant programs remain very popular; we are delighted to be able to help these small dairy businesses grow and diversify their product offerings. Our goal is to increase the number of thriving farmsteads and innovative dairy manufacturers in our region,” said CDR Director John Lucey.
In total, including these grants, DBIA has awarded more than $13 million in grants to 129 dairy processing businesses in the Midwest. For more details on the grants and their recipients, click here.
Cheers to DBIA for this impactful initiative!
