DBIA to Launch New Round of Dairy Business Builder Grants in September

A new round of Dairy Business Builder grants is coming in September 2022 for small- to medium-sized dairy farmers, manufacturers, and processors in 11 Upper Midwestern states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Kansas, and Wisconsin. The funding is administered by the Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA), a partnership between the Center for Dairy Research (CDR) and the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA).

The reimbursement grants of up to $100,000 each aim to support recipients in diversifying on-farm activity, creating value-added products, enhancing dairy byproducts, and creating or enhancing dairy export programs.

“The Dairy Business Builder grant program offers targeted investments that help dairy entrepreneurs take their businesses to the next level. We’re pleased to offer them this meaningful support, and we look forward to seeing their creative ideas this fall,” said WCMA Executive Director John Umhoefer.

“The Dairy Business Builder program will help individual businesses like farmsteads and small cheesemakers as they invest in innovations and other opportunities to grow their operations,” stated CDR Director John Lucey.

Application materials for the Dairy Business Builder grants will be made available September 19, 2022 online at cdr.wisc.edu/dbia. Prospective applicants will benefit from an informational webinar hosted by DBIA staff, to be held in September. Applications will be due by 5:00 p.m. (CT) on November 10, 2022. Successful applicants will be notified by December 15, 2022.

The DBIA is supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and was created in the 2018 federal Farm Bill. Since then, the DBIA has administered over $3.7 million in 79 grants to dairy farms and businesses in its original five-state region. The program also offers technical assistance to dairy farmers and processors in participating states.