Prairie Farms Dairy Inc.

Prairie Farms Dairy Inc., a major Midwest dairy cooperative headquartered in Edwardsville, Illinois, supplies fresh fluid milk, dairy products, and related commodities to federal agencies as a prime contractor across full-and-open competition procurements with no set-aside designations. The company operates as a for-profit manufacturer of goods with multiple subsidiaries including Hiland Dairy Foods Company, LLC, Ice Cream Specialties, Inc., Roberts Dairy Company, LLC, and others, positioning it as a diversified dairy and food production enterprise serving military, civilian, and veteran healthcare feeding operations.

Prairie Farms' federal customer base concentrates heavily on commodity procurement and subsistence supply. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Subsistence dominates by award count (135 awards, $273 thousand combined potential value) through routine delivery orders for low-fat milk, chocolate milk, and related products against an indefinite delivery contract; however, dollar concentration is driven by the Department of Agriculture, whose Agricultural Marketing Service Washington Office anchors 45 awards valued at $30 million combined for fresh fluid milk supporting domestic food assistance programs, and whose Food and Nutrition Service accounts for 36 awards worth $14.6 million. The Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons and its component facilities (Federal Correctional Complex Terre Haute, Federal Correctional Institution Greenville, Federal Correctional Institution Pekin, and United States Penitentiary Marion) represent the third-largest customer cluster by volume, issuing monthly and quarterly purchase orders for dairy products to support inmate feeding operations. The Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Integrated Service Network 10 maintains an indefinite delivery contract for milk and dairy items supporting VA medical centers, with 11 awards totaling $1.2 million in combined potential value.

Recent activity shows 18 awards in 2026 (two months of the year), 13 in 2025, 10 in 2024, 13 in 2023, and 82 in 2022, reflecting a significant volume decline post-2022, likely reflecting the expiration or completion of large commodity procurement vehicles. The recompete cliff in the next twenty-four months is modest—five awards with combined potential value of $1.5 million. Prairie Farms holds multiple indefinite delivery contracts serving as parent vehicles for task order activity: IDC SPE30021DV383 (134 task orders, $23 thousand combined value) with DLA Troop Support Subsistence, IDC DJBP041800000100 (13 task orders, $389 thousand) with the Bureau of Prisons, and similar vehicles with the VA and USDA.

Prairie Farms competes entirely under full-and-open competition on commercial contracts with no small business set-asides or other socioeconomic designations. Capability framing is straightforward: the company supplies 1%, 2%, whole, and skim milk in 64-ounce and 128-ounce containers; chocolate milk in multiple fat varieties; cottage cheese; yogurt; and margarine—all under firm fixed-price, commercial procurement terms referencing NAICS 311511 (Fluid Milk Manufacturing) and PSC 8910 (Dairy Foods and Eggs). Representative work includes a $2.01 million definitive contract with USDA AMS for fresh fluid milk commodities awarded March 19, 2024; a $1.76 million USDA FNS contract for milk in multiple container sizes and fat percentages awarded August 1, 2024; a $294.7 thousand VA purchase order for half-pints and gallons of milk to the Dayton VA Medical Center awarded January 13, 2026; routine monthly purchase orders from Federal Correctional Complex Terre Haute ranging from $20 thousand to $31 thousand for dairy products; and continuous delivery orders to DLA Troop Support Subsistence for milk products, most valued under $300 per order.

The source records two federal grant awards under the Pandemic Market Volatility Assistance Program (CFDA 10.183): an $11.3 million cooperative agreement awarded January 5, 2022 (completed June 30, 2022) and a $1.5 million cooperative agreement awarded April 5, 2023 (completion December 31, 2024). In both cases, Prairie Farms served as the prime recipient distributing pandemic relief payments to eligible dairy farmers who marketed milk through the company to federal milk marketing order-regulated handlers during July–December 2020, with responsibility for obtaining producer attestations, issuing tax forms, and providing dairy policy education. The source names no subcontractors on contract awards or sub-recipients on grants; Prairie Farms operates as a direct prime supplier to federal agencies with no disclosed teaming relationships across the recent award footprint.