DBIA Awards Over $46,000 in Grants to Midwest Goat, Sheep Dairy Processors

The Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA), a partnership between the Center for Dairy Research (CDR) and the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA), has selected 10 small and medium dairy businesses across the Midwest to receive over $46,000 in grants through the Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA).

“Consumers are developing a taste for diverse, specialty dairy products, and that’s creating new opportunities for producers and processors across the Midwest. These small-dollar grants will have a big impact for sheep and goat businesses working hard to take advantage of those trends,” said WCMA Executive Director John Umhoefer.

“These DBIA grants are boosting the visibility of our region’s top-quality goat and sheep dairy products and connecting them with increasing consumer demand,” added CDR Assistant Director Tom Guerin.

The Goat and Sheep Processors Grant Program opened for applications in March 2026. Businesses could apply for awards of up to $6,000 each to support educational training, product development trials, or trade show participation.

The grant recipients are:

• Baetje Farms is an award‑winning artisan goat‑cheese creamery in Bloomsdale, MO known for handcrafted bloomy‑rind and aged cheeses. This award will help Baetje Farms secure booth space at major trade shows, increasing brand visibility and opening new wholesale markets for their goat and mixed‑milk cheeses.
• Blakesville Creamery is a small farmstead goat and sheep cheese producer in Port Washington, WI crafting soft‑ripened cheeses from their 1,500‑goat herd and local sheep milk. This award will help the creamery participate in key marketing and trade events, enabling them to educate cheese mongers and buyers about the value of their artisan cheeses and expand distribution into new markets.
• Carr Valley Cheese Company in La Valle, WI is a nationally recognized mixed‑milk cheesemaker with over 900 awards and a reputation for innovation. This award will support the first phase of developing a new artisan cheese line, filling a major market gap for locally produced specialty cheese.
• Hidden Springs Creamery is a sheep dairy and artisan cheese producer in Westby, WI known for its Driftless spreadable cheeses and innovative whey‑based products. This award will support education and training needed to launch a new product line that meets rising consumer demand.
• Kingston Cheese Cooperative in Cambria, WI supports 85 small family farms by innovating new dairy products and expanding market opportunities. This award will help the cooperative develop a new cheese as part of a diversification strategy that strengthens farm viability and preserves rural livelihoods.
• Mesta Meadows is a fully integrated sheep‑milk ice cream operation in Glen Allen, MO producing French‑custard ice cream from their growing flock of dairy ewes. This award will support staff training to prepare new and existing team members for rapid production scaling as demand increases across Missouri and beyond.
• Nordic Creamery is a small family‑run dairy in Westby, WI crafting small‑batch goat, sheep, and cow‑milk cheeses, butter, and ice cream. This award will help the creamery conduct trials to develop a new cheese made from goat and sheep milk, expanding their product offerings and supporting local milk producers.
• Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery is Illinois’ first farmstead creamery in Champaign, IL, producing award‑winning goat cheeses from a herd of over 60 milking does. This award will help the creamery activate its small‑batch R&D system for training and product development, allowing staff to run independent makes and strengthen skills as they expand aged‑cheese capacity.
• Vlietstra Dairy Farm in Kalamazoo, MI is a sheep‑milk processing operation producing high‑quality milk, yogurt, and artisan cheeses for regional markets. This award will help the farm develop new products and keep pace with growing demand.
• Wild Angels Creamery in Cuba City, WI is a multi‑species farmstead dairy producing over 40 varieties of artisan cheeses from sheep, goat, and cow milk. This award will help the creamery scale production of a new mixed‑milk product line, transforming seasonal milk surpluses into a high‑value, farm‑to‑table product.

DBIA’s grant programs advance the organization’s mission to support small and mid-size dairy processors across its 11-state service area of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

The DBIA is supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and was created in the 2018 federal Farm Bill. Since then, DBIA has awarded nearly $24 million across more than 300 grants to Midwestern dairy farms and businesses. The program also offers technical assistance to dairy farmers and processors in participating states.