Dairy Food Safety and Certification Grant Program (US)

The program may address biosecurity or food safety, including written plan development, training, technical assistance, certain infrastructure improvements, special testing costs, and audits or certifications.

Aims

• This program aims to support farmers, processors, dairy brands, and producer associations in increasing the safety and quality of regionally produced dairy products in the marketplace. The grant is intended for dairy businesses that are already meeting baseline food safety and/or biosecurity standards to take steps to further reduce risks or meet standards beyond those required, such as third-party audits or other certifications.

Funding Priorities 

• To be eligible for the grant, your project must align with at least one of the following funding priorities. You will need to explain how your project aligns in your application.
  • Reducing barriers or improving outcomes related to food safety or biosecurity.
  • Certifications or compliance with food safety standards that allow sales in a new market or increase value of products.
  • Food safety or biosecurity improvements that benefit multiple businesses.
  • Projects that improve worker conditions or upskill workers.

Funding Information

• Available Funds:
  • $525,000.00
• Minimum & Maximum Award:
  • Minimum: $10,000.00
  • Maximum: $75,000.00
  • Match: A 25% (cash and/or in-kind) match commitment is required
• Your project can take from 6 – 12 months to complete, depending on your needs. Pre-award costs may be available, with permission from the NE-DBIC grant program manager.

Eligible Projects

• Applications must outline projects that prioritize on-farm biosecurity and dairy food safety, with the goal of ensuring the safety of dairy products in the marketplace. All projects must be able to show that they already have baseline compliance with food safety standards for current markets and that the improvements made through this grant can be sustained beyond the grant period. Projects may include, but are not limited to:
  • Audits and resulting activities needed to meet audit requirements, including but not limited to:
    • Pre-audit consultations.
    • Food safety audits.
    • Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) audits: in-plant and/or record-review.
  • Working with technical assistance or getting training to develop, implement, or improve monitoring programs and plans:
    • Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)-compliant preventive control food safety plans:
      • Food Traceability Final Rule compliance.
      • Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) certification.
      • Environmental Monitoring Program (EMP).
      • Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
      • Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
    • Biosecurity plans:
      • Enhanced biosecurity measures, including traffic flow.
      • Biosecurity training.
      • Continuity of Business plans.
    • Food safety programs:
      • Record keeping/traceability systems.
      • Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plans.
    • Dairy Process Authority to validate products for safety and stability.
    • Safety Quality Food (SQF) Code trainings and systems development.
  • Infrastructure improvements that reduce barriers to maintaining food safety or biosecurity, including specialized equipment for improving the safety of dairy production or processing:
    • Automation of food safety monitoring systems such as chart recorders or process controls.
    • Reduction of touch points.
    • Mechanization of sanitation, including clean-in-place (CIP) and clean-out-of-place (COP) systems.
    • Purchase or replacement of process control equipment such as pasteurizers and chillers.
    • Adoption of fillers or packaging that increase food safety or product shelf-life.
    • Hazard-reduction systems such as metal detectors.
  • Initiatives to increase access to food safety education or resources among groups with lower access:
    • Workshops or training opportunities for farmers to improve biosecurity or milk safety.
    • Food Safety workshops for small-scale processors.
  • Costs of testing as part of the implementation of a new protocol or mitigation of a food safety issue (not ongoing routine testing):
    • Implementation of antibiotic residue testing that allows for new processing or market access
    • Food safety product tests.
    • Environmental monitoring sample collection, testing/lab fees, sample shipping
    • Technical assistance related to testing.
  • Upskilling workers by providing access to training or workshops that result in certifications beyond routine food safety training necessary to complete current duties:
    • Dairy food safety.
    • Food handling.
    • Milk and dairy product quality and safety.
    • Biosecurity
    • Microbiology.
    • Fluid milk production.
    • Dairy product production.
    • Membrane filtration and separation.
    • Recipe or process improvement to achieve increased shelf life or stability of product.
  • Other ideas and projects are welcome within the bounds of what the NE-DBIC can fund.

Eligibility Criteria

• These grants are for dairy farmers, processors, dairy brands, and producer associations in the Northeast region (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont).
• Applicants eligible for these funds must fall into at least one of the following categories:
  • Dairy farmers (producers) that:
    • Are headquartered or based in the Northeast; and
    • Produces milk within the Northeast; and
    • Are licensed dairy operations in compliance with all required state and federal standards.
  • Dairy processors that:
    • Transform raw fluid milk, dairy components, or dairy mix into an edible product meant for human consumption; and
    • Are headquartered or based in the Northeast; and
    • Source or produce milk or dairy components from within the Northeast; and
    • Manufacture products within the Northeast; and
    • Are currently licensed as a dairy processor either:
      • in a way that their dairy products can be sold across state lines; or
      • to sell their products within their own state and their project will allow them to take steps towards being licensed to sell products across state lines.
• Dairy brands that market Northeast dairy products produced by a licensed dairy processor under a co-packing or other arrangement. For the purposes of this grant, a dairy brand is a business that develops and markets dairy products but may not operate its own processing facilities. Dairy brands own the rights to their products’ recipes, branding, and distribution, but work with licensed dairy processors, such as co-packers, to produce their products. White-label retailers, who rebrand products developed and produced by another company but do not own exclusive rights to the product, are not eligible. Dairy brands are eligible if:
  • The project primarily benefits at least one dairy product meant for human consumption that is produced by a Northeast processor that meets all eligibility requirements as defined in 2. above; and
  • A Letter of Commitment from the partner processor is included in the application.
• Producer associations that represent, support, or promote dairy products originating from the Northeast. For the purposes of this grant, a producer association group, also known as a trade association, industry trade group, business association, sector association, or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. Producer associations are eligible if:
  • The project will benefit multiple Northeast dairy producers or processors, as defined under 1. or 2. above; and
  • At least two Letters of Commitment or Support from dairy producers or processors who will benefit are included in the application; and
  • The association does not receive the majority of their funds from producer check-off dollars.

For more information, visit NE-DBIC.