Dairy Food Safety & Certification Grant

Visit nedairyinnovation.com for the most up-to-date version of this grant.

Grant Overview

The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center (NE-DBIC) announces the availability of funds through the Dairy Food Safety & Certification Grant program, which will provide grants for dairy farmers, processors, and/or producer associations to take actionable steps to improve the safety of dairy products. Projects funded through this program will support increased production safety standards with the goal of accessing new markets. Projects that increase marketability of dairy products will be prioritized. Activities covered by this grant include accessing technical assistance, audits, food safety plan development, training, testing fees, and certain infrastructure upgrades. 

Projects funded by this grant will allow dairy farmers, processors, and/or producer associations to take actionable steps to improve the safety of dairy products and improve marketability. Technical assistance providers or supply chain partners including distributors, co-packers and cross-dockers that would also benefit from grant activities should be listed as partners. Projects that demonstrate that grant activities will increase or expand access to market channels will be prioritized. Food safety activities under this grant should build upon baseline state and federal compliance requirements to further improve product consistency, safety, and quality of dairy products.

Grants are available to applicants in all Northeast states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Grants will range from $10,000 - $40,000 with a 25% (cash or in-kind) match commitment required. 

Available funds: $225,000

**This funding opportunity is currently closed. It is expected to open again in December 2023.**

Eligibility

Applicants eligible for these funds must fall into at least one of the following categories:

1. Dairy farmer (producer) of milk that is headquartered or based in the Northeast and sources or produces milk within the Northeast.
2. Dairy processors that are headquartered in the Northeast that transform raw milk into an edible product with milk sourced from the Northeast region. Processors must be licensed in a way that their product can be sold across state lines OR are a processor whose grant project will help their business move toward getting licensed in a way that will allow them to sell their product across state lines.
3. Dairy producer association/dairy council which represents and promotes dairy products/dairy businesses of the Northeast.

How to Apply

1. Review the full Dairy Food Safety & Certification Grant RFA (request for applications) for the complete details on eligible projects/applicants and the full application process.
2. Register in WebGrants (may take up to two business days).
3. Complete your application in WebGrants using our Application Guide. Application period: October 27, 2022 - January 19, 2023 at 2:00pm ET.
4. Applicants who do not already have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) through SAM.gov are strongly encouraged to start this process during the application period to ensure a timely start to their grant, if awarded. There are currently significant delays.

Have a Question about this Grant?

Have a question? Contact the grant coordinator for this program, Ben Eldredge.