HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Center for Dairy Excellence awarded a collective total of $185,000 to 37 Pennsylvania dairy producers through the latest round of the Dairy Excellence Grant program. The grants are designed to support dairy farm improvement projects that enhance efficiency and cow comfort.
Grant recipients plan to use the funds to invest in activity monitors for their herd, convert to group calf housing facilities, pursue new feed mixing technology, resurface barn and parlor holding pen floors, remodel free stalls and enhance cow comfort with new fans, curtains and mattresses. Several producers also plan to use the grant funds to help build a new transition barn, invest in new milking technology and install LED lighting.
Grant recipients were selected by a committee of industry professionals and will receive a 50% match, up to a maximum matching level of $5,000.
During this seventh round of funding, more than 9,298 Pennsylvania dairy cows will be impacted by the improvement projects. Grant recipients’ herd sizes range from approximately 40 cows to 2,150 cows.
The dairy producers who received the grants represent 23 counties, including Beaver, Cambria, Fayett, Lawrence, Mercer and Somerset counties in western Pennsylvania.
Leveraging funds provided through the PA Dairymen’s Association and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, this investment from Ag Excellence has supported an investment of more than $4,619,442 into Pennsylvania dairy farms across all the funded projects to date.
For more information about the grant program, visit centerfordairyexcellence.org/dairy-excellence-grants or contact Melissa Anderson at 717-346-0849.
To see how previous grant recipients have used the funds, visit centerfordairyexcellence.org/testimonials.
