The Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA), a partnership between the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA) and the Center for Dairy Research (CDR), announced 41 grants totaling nearly $4 million for farmstead operations and dairy processing businesses across the Midwest. 

The grants will be awarded through the DBIA’s Dairy Business Builder and Dairy Industry Impact grant programs. 

“These grant programs remain very popular; we are delighted to be able to help these small dairy businesses grow and diversify their product offerings. Our goal is to increase the number of thriving farmsteads and innovative dairy manufacturers in our region,” said CDR Director John Lucey.  

“In the Midwest and across the United States, a robust network of individual dairy businesses is key to a strong dairy industry. We are thrilled to support dairy entrepreneurs in their continued growth and their contributions to the overall health of our dairy industry,” added WCMA Executive Director John Umhoefer.  

Thirty-seven of the 41 grants are Dairy Business Builder grants targeting small-to-medium size farmers or processors. Supported projects are aimed at diversifying on-farm activity, creating value-added products, enhancing dairy by-products or export programs. In the latest round, DBIA will be distributing 37 Dairy Business Builder grants totaling $3.3 million in nine of the 11 states covered by the DBIA. In addition, nearly 70 percent of awardees are first time winners. Businesses receiving a Dairy Business Builder grant are:  

• Alpinage Cheese LLC, Oak Creek, WI 
• Amo Creamery, Heron Lake, MN 
• Black Radish Creamery, Alexandria, OH 
• Blue Ice Creamery, Brighton, IL 
• Bold Spoon Creamery, Park Hills, MO 
• Buckeye Country Creamery / Buckeye Milk House, Rittman, OH 
• Burnett Dairy Cooperative, Grantsburg, WI 
• CannonBelles Cheese Inc., Cannon Falls, MN 
• Cinnamon Ridge Inc., Donahue, IA 
• Concept Processing, Melrose, MN 
• Country View Dairy, Hawkeye, IA 
• Cream Cup Dairy, Bear Lake, MI 
• Ducks in a Row Family Farm, Arena, WI 
• Dwight and Anita Rokey DBA Rokeyroad Holsteins, Sabetha, KS 
• GoodSport Nutrition, Evanston, IL 
• Happy Cows Creamery at New Horizon Farm, New Vienna, OH 
• Hidden Springs Creamery LLC, Westby, WI 
• Holland's Family Cheese, LLC, Thorp, WI 
• Kuehnert Milk House, Fort Wayne, IN 
• Marcoot Jersey Creamery LLC, Greenville, IL 
• Mesta Meadows, LLC, Glenallen, MO 
• Minerva Dairy Inc., Minerva, OH 
• Protein Pints, Grand Rapids, MI 
• Sassy Cow Creamery, Columbus, WI 
• Semifreddo LLC, Hart, MI 
• Shatto Farms, Inc., Osborn, MO 
• Snowville Creamery, Pomeroy, OH 
• Specialty Cheese Company, Inc., Reeseville, WI 
• Stil Dreamn Dairy, Conway, MO 
• Strack-View Farms LLC / Jersey Valley Cheese, Adell, WI 
• Sundae Morning Dairy LLC, Ogden, IA 
• The Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor, Inc., Forest Park, IL 
• The Mullen Dairy & Creamery, Okeana, OH 
• Vieira Ventures LLC DBA Swanky Scoops, Toledo, OH 
• Voelker Creamery, Perryville, MO 
• Westby Coop Creamery, Westby, WI 
• Wiscon Corp (Caputo Cheese), Melrose Park, IL 

DBIA will also be awarding four Dairy Industry Impact grants totaling $400,000 to small dairy processing businesses in Wisconsin and Minnesota. This grant program supports projects in targeted topic areas that have the potential to positively impact the dairy industry as a whole. In the latest grant cycle, applications were accepted for projects related to exporting dairy products. Businesses receiving a Dairy Industry Impact grant are: 

• Milk Specialties Global, Eden Prairie, MN 
• Rosewood Dairy, Inc. DBA Renard’s Cheese, Algoma, WI 
• Sartori Cheese, Plymouth, WI 
• Specialty Cheese Company, Inc., Reeseville WI 

In total, including these grants, DBIA has awarded more than $13 million in grants to 129 dairy processing businesses in the Midwest. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) successfully led the Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives program to passage through Congress as part of the 2018 Farm Bill. Since the creation of the program, Senator Baldwin has championed increasing investments to support the work of the DBIA in Wisconsin and across the Upper Midwest. Programs in California, Tennessee, and Vermont have also received funding.