The information below has been supplied by dairy marketers and other industry organizations. It has not been edited, verified or endorsed by Hoard’s Dairyman.

Dairy farmers and processors in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington are now invited to apply for funding to become more competitive and innovative in today’s industry. In its second cycle of grant awards, the Pacific Coast Coalition Dairy Business Initiative (PCC-DBII), hosted by California State University, Fresno, will award funding to assist in dairy product development, production, marketing, and distribution.

“In this round, we anticipate awarding over $4.1 million via more than a dozen grants of approximately $50,000 - $1,000,000 for the Spring 2023 period.” said Carmen Licon Cano, Ph.D., Project Director and Assistant Professor in Food Science and Nutrition at Fresno State. “This opportunity is part of a whole-farm system approach and increasing collaboration with other farms or dairy sector stakeholders”

Potential projects may range from product line expansion and alternative processing technologies to value-added new product development. For instance, the Blue Silo Creamery in Jefferson, Oregon was recently awarded $50,000 to help reach a growing target audience along the I-5 corridor by expanding into new product offerings.

The PCC-DBII is funded through the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service and Fresno State is collaborating with Cal Poly Humboldt, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Chapman University, Chico State, Oregon State University, UC Davis, Washington State University, and the California Dairy Innovation Center. These university partners will offer >600 hours of technical assistance to the industry through workshops, short courses, and webinars to foster innovation and best practices, often in bilingual forms for Spanish-speaking workers.

For more information: https://www.dairypcc.net.