By Katie Spring, Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center
The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center is pleased to announce recipients of the 2024 On-Farm Milk Storage & Handling Grant.
Projects from this grant help streamline milk pick up, create efficiencies around milk storage, and improve handling for both farmers and their processors.
In this competitive grant round, 20 farms were selected for awards out of 103 applicants. Awards span 8 states across the region, including: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.
Many of those selected for awards will be investing in larger bulk tanks to move from daily to every-other-day milk pickup. This leads to savings on hauling costs, decreased fuel usage, and increased energy efficiency as older units are replaced with more efficient ones. Many projects also include plate coolers and variable speed pumps to improve milk cooling.
Awards ranged from $15,000 to $50,000, with a total of $847,414 in overall funding. Vermont farms selected for awards include:
Champlainside Farm of Vermont - $50,000 to replace their water-based plate cooler with a new glycol chiller to improve milk cooling regardless of fluctuations in Lake Champlain’s water temperature. This will lead to cost savings and improved milk quality, in addition to decreasing total water use.
JASA Family Farm of Vermont - $50,000 to consolidate milking operations onto one site and purchase and install a 1600-gallon bulk milk storage tank and new plate cooler to increase production and switch to every-other-day milk pickup.
Longway Farms of Vermont - $42,714.93 to replace a 1500-gallon bulk tank with a currently owned 4000-gallon bulk tank and purchase and install new condenser units and a high-speed pump to address inefficiencies in milk hauling and storage. This will reduce hauling trips to one per day and improve cost savings and efficiency.
Thibeault Farm of Vermont - $50,000 to increase milk storage capacity to support the recently completed 30 cow expansion by installing a 1600-gallon bulk tank with a new compressor, a plate cooler, and an additional 30 stalls into their barn. This will enable them to switch to every-other-day milk pickup.
To see a full list of awardees, visit our website at nedairyinnovation.com/2024-milk-storage-handling-awards. This grant will open again this coming winter.