31 Get Dairy Business Grants

The Dairy Business Innovation Alliance, a partnership between the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association and the Center for Dairy Research at UW-Madison announced 31 companies and cooperatives have been selected to receive Dairy Business Builder grants totaling nearly $2.5 million. Nine are from Wisconsin.  

The Dairy Business Builder grant program aims to encourage small- to medium-sized dairy farmers, entrepreneurs, and processors in the Midwest 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.  

“Amid robust competition from across the Midwest, these projects stood out for their ambitious, distinctive approaches to adding value from farm to vat,” says WCMA Executive Director John Umhoefer. “We’re thrilled to support dairy innovation today and in the future.”

CDR Director John Lucey says DBIA got more than 100 applications across the 11-state region.

“We are delighted to be able to support 31 small dairy businesses with awards,” Lucey says. “Almost all are first time winners and these funds will help them grow and innovate.”

Companies and cooperatives receiving Dairy Business Builder Grants are: 

·        Alpinage Cheese LLC – Oak Creek, Wisconsin 

·        Augment LLC – Madison, Wisconsin 

·        Black Radish Creamery – Alexandria, Ohio 

·        Charlevoix Cheese Company – Charlevoix, Michigan 

·        Comstock Cheese LLC – Comstock, Wisconsin 

·        Copper Crow Distillery – Bayfield, Wisconsin 

·        Freshly Dairy – Lizton, Indiana 

·        Furniture City Creamery – Grand Rapids, Michigan 

·        Gardner’s Wisconsin Cheese, LLC – Marshfield, Wisconsin 

·        Goat Milk Stuff LLC – Scottsburg, Indiana 

·        GoodSport Nutrition, LLC – Evanston, Illinois 

·        Green Dirt Farm, LLC – Weston, Missouri 

·        Grison Creamery, LLC – Ava, Missouri 

·        Hemme Dairy, LLC – Sweet Springs, Missouri 

·        Highfield Farm Creamery – Walworth, Wisconsin 

·        Hinterland Dairy – Donnellson, Iowa 

·        JB’s Barnyard – Evansville, Indiana 

·        Jisa Farmstead Cheese – Brainard, Nebraska 

·        Ozark Mountain Creamery, LLC – Mountain Grove, Missouri 

·        Pine River Pre-Pack, Inc. – Newton, Wisconsin 

·        Rowdy Cow Creamery LLC – Burton, Ohio 

·        Saltless Sea Creamery, LLC – Traverse City, Michigan 

·        Semifreddo LLC – Hart, Michigan 

·        Sirocco Ridge Farmstead Creamery, LLC – Henryville, Indiana 

·        Smith Brothers Creamery LLC – McConnelsville, Ohio 

·        Specialty Cheese Co. Inc. – Reeseville, Wisconsin 

·        Thistle Dew Creamery – Vassar, Michigan 

·        Troyer Specialty Foods – Millersburg, Ohio 

·        Twin Springs Creamery – Bloomington, Indiana 

·        VernDale Products, Inc. – Detroit, Michigan 

·        Wisconsin Dairy State Cheese Company – Rudolph, Wisconsin