The southeast dairy business innovation initiative (sdbii) will continue to provide support to the dairy industry across 12 southeast states (alabama, arkansas, florida, georgia, kentucky,…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service awarded a $3,454,000 Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives (CFDA 10.176) project grant to the University of Tennessee to continue supporting the dairy industry across 12 Southeast states. The grant will fund a range of initiatives, including:

• Scholarships for leadership and training opportunities for dairy businesses
• Competitive subaward programs for Southeast dairy businesses
• Grants for farm infrastructure improvements, precision technology, dairy business planning, specialty processing equipment, and industry impact initiatives
• Creation of extension fact sheets, publications, decision tools, and video resources

The grant includes a sub-award to North Carolina State University to provide value-added dairy producers in North Carolina with education, financial resources, and expertise to help grow and sustain their local dairy businesses. The sub-award will support small grants, educational programs, and technical assistance in areas such as dairy farm management, dairy plant production, and business planning.

The southeast dairy business innovation initiative (sdbii) will continue to provide support to the dairy industry across 12 southeast states (alabama, arkansas, florida, georgia, kentucky, louisiana, mississippi, north carolina, south carolina, tennessee, virginia, and west virginia). We have created a support network across: 1) understanding value-added dairy opportunities (animal husbandry and farm sustainability), 2) dairy finances and decision-support tools, 3) food safety and product innovation projects, 4) marketing and training tools, and 5) leadership and workforce development. With the reduced funding available, the sdbii will prioritize awards to dairy businesses and administrative support necessary to facilitate those awards. Outcomes will include:-scholarships for leadership and training opportunities for dairy businesses.-competitive subaward programs for southeast dairy businesses.-farm infrastructure improvement grant-precision technology and management grant-dairy business planning grant-specialty processing equipment grant-dairy industry impact grant-creating extension fact sheets, publications, decision tools, and video resources.