The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded the Pacific Coast Coalition-Dairy Business Innovation Initiative another U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant for nearly $1.8 million, with nearly $1 million available for dairy business grants. This news comes just as applications are being accepted for the second round of funding, with a deadline of Tuesday, Feb. 28.
Dairy farmers and processors in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington are currently proposing projects for funding to aid in dairy product development, production, marketing and distribution.
Online resources to aid such efforts include a “Helpful Hints” webinar, FAQs, and “Office Hours” for drop-in questions via Zoom from 4 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 9.
“This new funding award from the USDA has several key changes, including returning to a three-state focus of California, Oregon and Washington to better reflect current funding levels and continue to provide top-notch service,” said Dr. Carmen Licon Cano, Food Science and Nutrition Department faculty and the project director. “This brings the total dairy processing-related grants to over $23.5 million in the past two years.”
The initiative is funded by an initial $1.8 million grant in November 2021 and $19 million follow-up grant announced in July 2022. Fresno State hosts the collaboration with eight other Western universities and the California Dairy Innovation Center. The program will also offer over 600 hours of industry training to foster innovation and best practices, often in bilingual forms for Spanish-speaking workers.
ONLINE APPLICATION: https://www.dairypcc.net/grant-applications
INFO: Nancy Van Leuven, nancyvanleuven@csufresno.edu
