MADISON – Dairy product manufacturers in five Midwestern states can prepare now to apply for a new, $1 million round of grants to be administered by the Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA), a partnership between the Center for Dairy Research (CDR) and the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA).
This grant program is targeted to help dairy businesses develop an idea or tackle a challenge with the potential to advance the dairy industry as a whole. Reimbursable grants of up to $250,000 each will be awarded through a competitive review process. Grant recipients will be required to share results of their project.
“Bold innovation is key to the advancement of the dairy industry,” said WCMA Executive Director John Umhoefer. “These grants help entrepreneurs maximize the impact of their efforts and move the industry forward by sharing what they’ve learned.”
“We are excited to see new ideas that could have a broader reach than just a single company and ultimately benefit a group of businesses, a region, or an entire sector of the industry,” added CDR Director John Lucey.
The Dairy Industry Impact grant competition opens July 11, 2022 when applications will be available on the DBIA website. Applicants must be located in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, or Wisconsin. Initial abstracts will be due August 31, 2022. Successful applicants will be invited to submit full proposals by November 3, 2022. Companies interested in applying in July should contact Vic Grassman at vgrassman@cdr.wisc.edu or Tom Guerin at tguerin@cdr.wisc.edu.
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 all five participating Midwestern states. The program also offers technical assistance to dairy farmers and processors in the region.
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