Dairy Program

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service Dairy Program is a civilian sub-agency that administers federal contracts and grants supporting dairy-market development, research, and producer-education initiatives. The program has operated across 88 contract awards and 118 grant awards since 2008 and 2019 respectively, with combined contract potential value of $10.9 million and combined federal grant dollars obligated of $277.2 million. Recent activity shows variable contract volume—2 awards in 2021, 1 in 2022, 4 in 2023, 2 in 2024, and 5 year-to-date in 2026—while grant activity peaked in 2023 with 88 awards before declining to 4 in 2024 and 4 so far in 2026.

The contract portfolio is highly fragmented among 58 distinct prime contractors. Over the last five years, Ilabs Inc. leads by potential value with $4.6 million across 2 awards, while New TECH Solutions, Inc. leads by award count with 3 awards valued at $152 thousand. Tichenor & Associates, LLP, Jama Enterprises, Inc., and Research Triangle Institute round out the top-five by-value ranks. The top five primes by award count account for 83 percent of recent awards, though by-value concentration is lower at 59 percent, reflecting the program's reliance on smaller-dollar task orders and below-threshold work. The contract set-aside mix is dominated by open competition: 88 percent of awards carry no set-aside designation, with 8(a) sole-source awards comprising 7 percent and small-business and women-owned small-business set-asides combining for 4 percent.

Grant activity concentrates significantly among five recipients. The University of Wisconsin System, University of Tennessee, and Vermont Agency of Agriculture each hold 6 awards and $46.1 million in federal dollars obligated, while Fresno Foundation California State University and Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. each hold 6 awards with $25.8 million and $21.4 million respectively. These five recipients account for 27 percent of recent awards but 67 percent of recent federal dollars, reflecting larger project sizes at the leading institutions and producer organizations. Across 82 distinct recipients, the grant portfolio is structured predominantly as Cooperative Agreements (92 awards, 78 percent) with a smaller share of Project Grants (26 awards, 22 percent).

The most recent contract award closed on September 30, 2026, and the most recent grant award closed on January 31, 2026. No recent contract or grant opportunities are recorded in the source material for this agency.