MADISON, WIS. – More than three dozen companies and cooperatives received grant money this year from the Dairy Business Innovation Alliance, a partnership between the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association and the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Dairy Research.

The DBIA’s Dairy Business Builder grant program, which supports small- to medium-sized dairy farmers, entrepreneurs and processors in the upper Midwest, awarded $1.7 million in grants to 38 companies.

The program encourages innovative projects, such as dairy farm diversification, on-farm processing, value-added product creation and efforts to market dairy products for export.

“A strong and successful dairy industry depends in part on a robust, diverse community of individual dairy businesses,” said WCMA executive director John Umhoefer. “These grants will support the continued growth of these enterprises and the overall health of our dairy industry.”

The grants from the DBIA reimburse recipients for as much as $50,000 following a competitive review process. The US Department of Agriculture supports the DBIA, which was established as part of the Farm Bill in 2018. Since then, the DBIA has awarded close to $3.6 million in grants to 79 businesses in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The program also provides technical assistance and education for dairy farmers and processors.

“In these challenging times, these DBIA grants are even more important to creating a vibrant dairy industry as they support the growth of farmstead businesses and allow our small cheese and dairy plants to expand and diversify,” said CDR Director John Lucey.

The 2022 Dairy Business Builder grant recipients are:

• Alpinage Cheese LLC – Oak Creek, Wis.

• Berrybrook Organics LLC – Marion, SD

• CannonBelles Cheese – Cannon Falls, Minn.

• Cinnamon Ridge Inc. – Donahue, Iowa

• Concept Processing – Melrose, Minn.

• Country View Dairy – Hawkeye, Iowa

• Crimson Kitchen and Gardens – Watertown, Wis.

• DARI LLC – Clinton, Wis.

• Decatur Dairy – Brodhead, Wis.

• Deerland Dairy – Freeport, Ill.

• Driftless Gold – Highland, Wis.

• Farm Life Creamery LLC – Ethan, SD

• Fromage Spa, LLC – Green Bay, Wis.

• Frozen Innovations, LLC – Lake Forest, Ill.

• Hansen’s Sugar Shack, LLC – Marshfield, Wis.

• Hightail – Plainfield, Iowa

• Hill Valley Dairy LLC – East Troy, Wis.

• Knowlton House Distillery – Junction City, Wis.

• Landmark Creamery LLC – Belleville, Wis.

• Maple-Oak Farm – Florence, Wis.

• Marieke Marketing, LLC/Holland’s Family Cheese, LLC – Thorp, Wis.

• Metz’s Hart-Land Creamery – Rushford, Minn.

• Milk Specialties Global – Eden Prairie, Minn.

• Ms. J and Company – Monroe, Wis.

• North Sky Farm – Harvard, Ill.

• Oxheart Farm, LLC – Hager City, Wis.

• Pine River Pre-Pack, Inc. – Newton, Wis.

• Prairie Homestead Creamery – Cottonwood, Minn.

• Caves of Faribault/Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc. – Faribault, Minn.

• Prairie Sky Ranch – Soldiers Grove, Wis.

• Radiance Dairy – Fairfield, Iowa

• Renard’s Cheese Store, LLC – Sturgeon Bay, Wis.

• Rolling Lawns Farm – Greenville, Ill.

• Silo View Creamery, LLC – Union Grove, Wis.

• Specialty Cheese Co. Inc. – Reeseville, Wis.

• Stensland Creamery, LLC – Larchwood, Iowa

• Two Guernsey Girls Creamery LLC – Freedom, Wis.

• Widmer’s Cheese Cellars, Inc. – Theresa, Wis.