Eligibility

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Applicants eligible for these funds are existing dairy farmers (producers) and cooperatives that:

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1. are headquartered or based in New York State; and

2. produce milk within New York State; and

3. are licensed dairy operations in compliance with all required state and/federal standards.

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Eligible applicants include:

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• Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives

  • For the purposes of this grant program, a cooperative means an association or federation or cooperative of milk producers organized under the laws of New York State, having agreements with their producer members to market, bargain for or sell the milk of such producers, and is actually performing one or more of these services in the marketing of milk produced by their members, through the cooperative or through a federation of milk cooperatives in which the cooperative has membership.
     

• Dairy Producers, including dairy farmers and dairy farmer-processors

  • For the purposes of this grant program, a producer means any person in the State of New York who is engaged in the production of milk in a quantity which exceeds family and on-farm use or who causes milk to be produced for any market in this or any other state.  

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What Is Eligible?

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Funding is available for capital projects related to the following activities:

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• Expansion of on-farm milk storage capacity

• Efficiency improvements

• Milk transfer systems

• Cooling technologies

• Other purposes deemed necessary to further opportunities for dairy farmers to transport or store their products.​

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Examples of eligible equipment and expenses may include:

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• Equipment, including but not limited to:

  • Milk storage tanks, including bulk tanks and milk silos

  • Milk tankers for transport

  • Milk pipelines

  • Upgraded glycol chillers

  • Farm milk loading systems, including:

    • Direct load systems, flow stream systems (e.g., Piper System) for improved the rate at which milk is loaded at the farm by installing systems that are equipped with high-speed pumps, In-line sampling systems for direct loading and in-line weight measuring systems

  • Reclaim systems for water and watering systems (e.g., on-demand tanks)

  • Cleaning upgrades/automated cleaning

  • Purchase or upgrade of cooling equipment

  • Plate coolers and heat exchangers

  • Equipment installation services (e.g., plumbing needed for equipment or hooking up electrical for the equipment purchased)

  • Supplies (any purchases that cost less than $5,000 per unit) serving as critical components to the overall project / system

    • E.g., hot water heater (tank style or on-demand), water filtration, milk pipeline, milk pump, clean-in-place system, sinks

  • Other: shipping costs, rental of general use equipment (not for construction)

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• Any construction, renovation, preparation, and/or rehabilitation required for the installation or replacement of equipment

• Other related costs, such as:

  • Planning

  • Design

  • Engineering

  • Legal

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Eligible project costs relating to building construction, building renovation, and/or equipment that exceed $5,000 must be supported by a current quote or estimate.
 

Ineligible Activities

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Ineligible expenses include, but are not limited to:

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• Projects not primarily located within New York State

• Personnel and fringe expenses

• Vehicles

• Construction that is unrelated to the installation of new equipment

• Supplies that are not critical components to the overall project / system

• Travel expenses, including that pertaining to equipment acquisition

• Training expenses, including for the use of new equipment or otherwise

• Installations for overall farm production processes that are not specific to milk storage and handling

• Expenses paid by the applicant before the start of the grant period

• Any expenses for projects that solely support the production and/or sales of raw fluid milk meant for human consumption without pasteurization​​​