More than three dozen dairy businesses located across the upper and lower Midwest are receiving Dairy Business Builder grants totaling $3.2 million in allocated funding. The grant program is administered by the Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA), a partnership between the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA) and the Center for Dairy Research (CDR) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

 “This round of DBIA grant funding was one of the largest so far, with over $3.2 million awarded to 37 small dairy businesses to expand production of value-added dairy products across our region,” said CDR Director John Lucey. “Around 50 percent were first time recipients and small farmstead operations were close to 40 percent of the awardees. These funds are critical to help drive further growth in these small dairy businesses.” 

The Dairy Business Builder grant program aims to encourage small- to medium-sized dairy farmers, entrepreneurs and processors in its 11-state service region to pursue innovative projects such as dairy farm diversification, on-farm processing, value-added product creation, and efforts to market dairy products for export. Reimbursement grants of up to $100,000 each are awarded following a competitive review process. The next DBIA grant application period will open in August 2024. 

 "DBIA backs projects aimed at fostering new growth and enhancing profitability, benefiting not only individual businesses but the broader dairy industry as a whole. WCMA is proud to support farmers, manufacturers, and processors in their endeavors to fortify the future of dairy," said WCMA Executive Director John Umhoefer. 

Companies and cooperatives receiving Dairy Business Builder Grants are:  

•    Alpinage Cheese LLC, Oak Creek, WI 

•    Amazing Ice Cream LLC, Port Washington, WI 

•    Baker’s Golden Dairy LLC, New Waterford, OH 

•    Bekkum Family Farms LLC, DBA Nordic Creamery, Westby, WI 

•    Birch Point Distillery, Westby, WI 

•    Black Radish Creamery, Alexandria, OH 

•    Burnett Dairy Cooperative, Grantsburg, WI 

•    Dari LLC, Rising City, NE 

•    Farm Life Creamery, Ethan, SD 

•    Florence Creamery, Little Hocking, OH 

•    GoodSport Nutrition, Evanston, IL 

•    Hidden Springs Creamery LLC, Westby, WI 

•    Highfield Farm Creamery, Walworth, WI 

•    JBS Farms LLC DBA Kokoborrego, Mount Gilead, OH 

•    Klemish Creamery, New Auburn, WI 

•    Knueven Creamery, Leipsic, OH 

•    Landmark Creamery, Belleville, WI 

•    Love Creamery, Duluth, MN 

•    MDF Foods LLC, Newton, IA 

•    Michigan Cream & Sugar Ice Cream Company, Bay City, MI 

•    Mills Farm, Oelwein, IA 

•    Moore Family Farm Creamery, Maquoketa, IA 

•    Mossy Creek Farm, Kalkaska, MI 

•    Murphy's Grove, Aitkin, MN 

•    Picket Fence Creamery, LLC, Woodward, IA 

•    Prairie Homestead Creamery, Cottonwood, MN 

•    Redhead Creamery, LLC, Brooten, MN 

•    Rosewood Dairy, Inc. DBA Renard's Cheese, Algoma, WI 

•    Sartori Cheese, Plymouth, WI 

•    Tranquil Oaks Ranch LLC, Strafford, MO 

•    Tulip Tree Creamery, Indianapolis, IN 

•    Two Cows Creamery, Hot Springs, SD 

•    Udderly Divine Creamery, Everton, MO 

•    Uplands Cheese, Dodgeville, WI 

•    Urban Stead Cheese Co., Cincinnati, OH 

•    Wapsie Valley Creamery Inc., Independence, IA 

•    Watershed Foods LLC, Gridley, IL 

The DBIA is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Including the awards listed above, since its inception as part of the 2018 Farm Bill, the DBIA has awarded 213 grants totaling more than $16.5 million to dairy businesses in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The program also offers technical assistance and education to dairy farmers and processors in the region.