State announces grants for dairy storage, transport | Newyork | cnhinews.com

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday that $21.6 million is available through the Dairy Modernization Grant Program to help New York’s dairy farmers and agricultural marketing cooperatives expand on-farm milk storage capacity and support projects that will improve the transportation and storage of milk.

“New York’s dairy farms are the backbone of our agricultural industry, and they contribute so much to our communities, our economies, and our long legacy of agricultural excellence,” Hochul said in a news release. “I’m proud that the Dairy Modernization Grant Program will help our dairy farmers and processors make much needed improvements to their technology and facilities, helping New York State to remain a powerhouse in dairy nationally and ultimately getting nutritious, locally produced dairy products to more New Yorkers statewide.”

The grant program is being administered by the Farm and Food Growth Fund.

Grants will range from $50,000 to $250,000 and will be awarded to eligible applicants for projects that seek to expand on-farm milk storage capacity, improve efficiencies, invest in milk transfer systems and cooling technologies and more.

Examples of eligible projects include the purchase and installation of milk storage tanks, including bulk tanks, and milk silos, milk tankers for transport, milk pipelines, upgraded glycol chillers, farm milk loading systems, reclaim systems for water and watering systems (e.g., on-demand tanks) and more.

The request for proposals opened Nov. 1.

Virtual open office hours for interested applicants will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. Nov. 13; Dec. 8 and Jan. 15. Applications are due by Feb. 14.

According to the release, New York has about 3,000 dairy farms that produce more than 15 billion pounds of milk annually, making New York the nation’s fifth-largest dairy state. The dairy industry is the state’s largest agricultural sector, generating nearly half of the state’s total agricultural receipts.

Full details regarding project eligibility can be found at www.ffgrowthfund.org/dairymodernization.

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