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Dairy Industry Impact Grants awarded

Four companies are receiving more than 600-thousand dollars in dairy innovation grants.

The Dairy Industry Impact Grants are given by the Dairy Business Innovation Alliance and are supported by the University of Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research and the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association. 

Cedar Grove Cheese in Plain, Wisconsin will use their grant to upscale their system for using cheese plant wash wastewater for fertilizer.

Evanston, Illinois-based GoodSport Nutrition will use its grant to raise consumer awareness about dairy products for sports nutrition and presenting to trade shows reaching out to the 8.3 billion dollar sports beverage market.

Milk Specialties Global from Eden Prairie, Minnesota will use its grant to evaluate possible nutritional benefits of low-value dairy by-products in animal feed, which can lead to a new market in premium feed ingredients.

Specialty Cheese Company of Reeseville, Wisconsin will use their grant to help a consortium of small cheesemakers increase export opportunities with consolidated shipments to the Middle East and Japan, reducing shipping costs and providing export expertise.

The grants range from $50,000 to $250,000.  The Dairy Business Innovation Alliance is supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and was created in the 2018 federal Farm Bill. Grant recipients share their results and knowledge for the betterment of the industry.

In addition to the Dairy Industry Impact grant which helps medium and large dairy companies, the DBIA administers Dairy Business Builder grants to support small to medium size dairy enterprises