Transportation and Marketing

Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives

Fiscal Year 2023 Description of Funded Projects

Number of Grants Awarded: 4 

Amount of Funds Awarded: $22,999,999.00

For more information, please visit: https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/dbi. 

NOTE: The project descriptions below were provided by the grant recipients. The views expressed in the descriptions 

do not represent the views of or endorsements by the United States Government or the United States Department of 

Agriculture. 

California

Recipient: California State University, Fresno Foundation, Fresno, CA

District: CA – 022

Project Type: Continuing Initiative

Award Amount: $1,840,000.00

Website: https://www.dairypcc.net/ 

Dairy Business Innovation Initiative (DBII) – Pacific Coast Coalition Phase IV 

The Pacific Coast Coalition (PCC) supports dairy businesses across six states (Arizona, California, Nevada, New 

Mexico, Oregon, and Washington). This project amplifies and extends the dairy business subawards, technical 

assistance, and coalition building initiated in Phases I, II, and III to stimulate regional dairy innovation by assisting 

dairy businesses in developing higher value uses for their milk, diversifying their markets and income, realizing 

increased returns, and training their workforce. Following the previously established models of investing in human 

and targeted equipment capacity, the PCC-DBII furthers its capabilities in organizing and providing technical 

assistance in multiple modalities, languages, and locations as well as investing in the professional development 

pipeline of future dairy science employees/leaders. 

Tennessee

Recipient: University of Tennessee Center for Profitable Agriculture, Knoxville, TN

District: TN – 002

Project Type: Continuing Initiative

Award Amount: $7,053,333

Website: https://cpa.tennessee.edu/

Southeast Dairy Business Innovation Initiative - Phase 6 

The Southeast Dairy Business Innovation Initiative (SDBII) will continue to provide support to the value-added and

conventional dairy industry across 12 Southeast states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, 

Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia). The SDBII has created a network 

which supports understanding: 1) value-added dairy opportunities (animal husbandry and farm sustainability), 2) dairy 

finances and decision-support tools, 3) food safety and product innovation projects, 4) marketing and training tools, 

and 5) leadership and workforce development. This project will focus on expanded and new initiatives around animal 
husbandry and farm sustainability, dairy finances and decision-support tools, and leadership and workforce 

development. This furthers the SDBII’s overarching goal of creating a holistic support system, benchmarks, and 

resources across all aspects of the dairy industry. Activities will include applied research on best management practices 

and calf behavior for automated calf feeders; offsetting herd genomic testing costs and surveying producers; assessing 

traditional and novel feeding methods’ impact on dairy cattle greenhouse gas emissions and production; expanding

the Dairy Gauge program to include milk fat and protein, pregnancy rate, cull rate, other farm management practices, 

and greenhouse gases; the creation of program to foster producer community communication and engagement; 

scholarships for leadership and training opportunities for dairy businesses; and creating Extension fact sheets, 

publications, decision tools, and video resources.

Vermont

Recipient: Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, Montpelier, VT

District: VT – At-large

Project Type: Continuing Initiative

Award Amount: $7,053,333

Website: https://agriculture.vermont.gov/dbic

Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center – 2023 

The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center’s (NE-DBIC) will focus on the delivery of high-value, high-impact 

programming to benefit the dairy sector across the region including 11 states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, 

Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont). 

Opportunities are focused on farm and processor viability, with modernization, innovation, and climate-forward 

strategies at the forefront. The NE-DBIC’s regional approach with intentional collaboration is developing trust, multistate solutions, and benefits beyond the direct grantee. Grant-funded activities are focused in three primary areas: 

farm investments, processing investments, and dairy supply chain research and development. The funding in this 

project builds on previous opportunities that resonated across the dairy community, including on-farm milk storage 

and handling, food safety improvements, farm modernization, and processor innovation. New areas of focus include a 

regional economic study to understand the impact of dairy across New England, research and development of a novel 

farm production strategy, and investment in critical regional supply chain resources. Expected outcomes include job 

creation and maintenance, increased sales through existing or new market channels, new partnerships that result in 

higher profits, expanded infrastructure, and increased utilization of regional milk. The NE-DBIC also measures 

outcomes related to subrecipient education, satisfaction, and outlook. 

Wisconsin

Recipient: The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, Madison, WI

District: WI-002

Project Type: Continuing Initiative

Award Amount: $7,053,333

Website: https://www.cdr.wisc.edu/dbia

Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA) – 2023 

The Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA), established in 2019, is a partnership between the Center for Dairy 

Research (CDR) and the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA). Together with regional collaborators across 

eleven states (WI, MN, IA, SD, IL, MI, IN, KS, NE, MO & OH), the DBIA provides access to expertise, resources and 

insights to support dairy business innovation. The DBIA 2023 project will expand the scope of the previous programs 

to create a sustainable, reproducible model that promotes business innovation within the dairy industry. This 2023 

project’s “Outreach” theme continues to build upon the previous grant infrastructures and successful technical 

assistance programs enabling dairy farmers/processors to get their ideas off the ground, into the market, and grow 
their business. This will be achieved via the following goals: 1) provide assistance to dairy processors in their efforts 

to add value to their milk; 2) increase the mentorship support for our DBIA region, focusing on dairy entities in the 

development and growth of their business efforts by expanding technical assistance across marketing, financial 

planning, and technical expertise; and 3) continue to address industry issues with a range of dedicated, time-limited 

projects whose objectives are aligned with the DBII and whose results will be shared. The DBIA will continue to work 

with regional and national collaborators as it develops its programs with the potential for scalable application across 

the country.