USDA announces $1.5m in grants to support dairy industry

23-Apr-2019 - Last updated on 23-Apr-2019 at 10:59 GMT

Applications for the program close in June. Pic: ©Getty Images/steverts

Related tags Dairy

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced $1.5m in competitive grant funding for the Dairy Business Innovation (DBI) Initiatives.

DBI is authorized through the 2018 Farm Bill.

The program supports USDA’s efforts to reduce risk and develop higher-value uses for dairy products, diversify farmer income through processing and marketing innovation, and encourage the use of regional milk production.

The DBI Initiatives are expected to provide direct technical assistance and make grants to dairy businesses. Initiatives must be positioned to draw on existing dairy industry resources, including dairy farm density and farmland suitability for dairying, as well as activities conducted by dairy promotion and research programs, research organizations, dairy businesses, or academic and industry stakeholders.

Initiatives may serve a certain product niche, such as specialty cheese, or serve dairy businesses with dairy products derived from the milk of a specific type of dairy animal, including products made from cow, sheep and goat milk.

Applications must be submitted electronically through www.grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on June 17, 2019.