Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives Program (DBI) Fiscal Year 2026

Source-based overview

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), requests applications for fiscal year (FY) 2026 from existing initiatives of the Dairy Business Innovation (DBI) Initiatives Program: the California State University Fresno Foundation, the University of Tennessee, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, and the University of Wisconsin. These initiatives serve to: • Diversify dairy product markets to reduce risk and develop higher value uses for dairy products; • Promote business development that diversifies farmer income through processing and marketing innovation; and • Encourage the use of regional milk production. Approximately $12.65 million is available to fund these initiatives. In the FY 2025 application cycle, AMS funded four applications from the existing initiatives awarding a total of $11,040,000. AMS strongly encourages DBI initiatives to prioritize subaward funding for projects that request equipment and infrastructure activities in their proposals for these FY2026 funds. See the DBI Specific Terms and Conditions for guidance on allowable equipment and construction costs. Equipment and infrastructure investments are critical to strengthening the dairy industry and overall dairy businesses capacity and DBI is currently uniquely positioned to offer such targeted funding opportunities. The official record contains the controlling eligibility, budget, attachment and submission requirements for opportunity USDA-AMS-TM-DBI-G-26-0011.

Eligibility

Eligible applicant types listed by the agency: Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification). Applicants must also satisfy every programme-specific condition in the official notice.

Funding and benefits

Award ceiling: USD 3,450,000

Expected number of awards: 4

Themes and supported activities

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), requests applications for fiscal year (FY) 2026 from existing initiatives of the Dairy Business Innovation (DBI) Initiatives Program: the California State University Fresno Foundation, the University of Tennessee, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, and the University of Wisconsin. These initiatives serve to: • Diversify dairy product markets to reduce risk and develop higher value uses for dairy products; • Promote business development that diversifies farmer income through processing and marketing innovation; and • Encourage the use of regional milk production. Approximately $12.65 million is available to fund these initiatives. In the FY 2025 application cycle, AMS funded four applications from the existing initiatives awarding a total of $11,040,000. AMS strongly encourages DBI initiatives to prioritize subaward funding for projects that request equipment and infrastructure activities in their proposals for these FY2026 funds. See the DBI Specific Terms and Conditions for guidance on allowable equipment and construction costs. Equipment and infrastructure investments are critical to strengthening the dairy industry and overall dairy businesses capacity and DBI is currently uniquely positioned to offer such targeted funding opportunities.

Opportunity number: USDA-AMS-TM-DBI-G-26-0011

Deadline and timeline

Applications close 2026-12-01: Applications close 2026-12-01: Dec 1, 2026.

Applicants should confirm the exact deadline time, time zone, required documents, portal steps and any institutional approvals on the official call page before submitting.

How to apply

Open the official Grants.gov record, review the full notice and attachments, and use the application package or agency route stated there.

Before applying, check eligibility rules, budgets, attachments, page limits, partner requirements, cost-share conditions and whether the opportunity uses an expression of interest, full proposal, registration or nomination stage.