USDA Making $23M in Grants Available to Dairy Industry
WASHINGTON — The Department of Agriculture is making $23 million in grant funding available to support processing capacity expansion, on-farm improvements and technical assistance services to producers through the Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives.
Applications must be submitted electronically through grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. on Aug.10.
The Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives provide technical assistance and subgrants to dairy farmers and businesses across their regions, supporting them with business plan development, marketing and branding, as well as increasing access to innovations that support the development of value-added products.
“The Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives use their on-the-ground knowledge and their ability to target funding where it will have the most regional and local impacts to make significant improvements to the U.S. dairy supply chain,” said USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt, in a written statement.
“This program is a great example of USDA’s efforts to build capacity from the bottom up and the middle out by supporting small and mid-sized dairy operations,” Moffitt said.
The funds will be awarded noncompetitively to the current initiatives at the California State University Fresno; the University of Tennessee; Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets; and the University of Wisconsin.
Through the Request for Applications, the initiatives will have an opportunity to submit proposals for this year’s funding. Dairy farmers and businesses interested in the program must contact the appropriate initiative to be considered for direct technical assistance or a subaward.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
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