WCMA members’ voices are needed now to preserve the Dairy Business Innovation (DBI) Program. A newly-imposed 25% cost-share requirement from USDA on the four centers operating DBI will make it financially impossible for the program to continue, at a time when farmers and processors need support most.
Please join WCMA in contacting your legislators, urging them to push USDA to reissue a grant offering without a required match, to ensure DBI can continue to serve the American dairy industry. It’s quick and easy: simply enter your name and address to send a message.
Have questions? Please contact <a href="mailto:rsweeney@wischeesemakers.org" target="_blank">WCMA Senior Director of Programs &amp; Policy Rebekah Sweeney</a> or <a href="mailto:aneas@wischeesemakers.org" target="_blank">WCMA Programs &amp; Policy Manager Amelia Neas</a>. Thank you.&nbsp;

Protect the Dairy Business Innovation Program

I am writing to ask you to contact U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and urge USDA to reconsider a new 25% cost-share requirement for the Dairy Business Innovation (DBI) Initiatives.

For the first time since the program was established, USDA's FY2026 funding opportunity requires the four existing DBI Initiatives to provide a 25% cost share. Because these initiatives are operated by public universities, a state agency of agriculture, and a university/industry partnership, the new requirement makes participation in the program financially untenable.

The timing is especially challenging for the dairy industry. Dairy farmers and processors across the country are navigating significant economic pressures, including volatile markets, elevated production and energy costs, transportation expenses, workforce challenges, infrastructure and capital needs, and an increasingly competitive domestic and global marketplace. Businesses are working hard to remain competitive while making difficult decisions about investments, new products, market opportunities and long-term growth.

Transportation costs are an especially significant challenge for a geographically dispersed industry like dairy. Moving milk and dairy products from farms to processing facilities and ultimately to customers is an essential part of the supply chain, and higher costs throughout that process put additional pressure on already tight margins.

In this environment, programs that help dairy businesses innovate and strengthen their operations are particularly important. DBI provides practical assistance through technical support, product development, business planning, market development and direct financial support. These resources help businesses pursue opportunities that can strengthen their operations, develop new products and markets, and create greater value for farmers' milk.

Congress created the DBI program in the 2018 Farm Bill, and it has received bipartisan support as an effective way to strengthen American dairy businesses. At a time when the industry is already under significant financial pressure, adding a new 25% funding requirement to the organizations delivering this assistance risks reducing access to a program dairy businesses need.

I respectfully ask you to contact Secretary Rollins and urge USDA to:

-Withdraw the new 25% cost-share requirement; and
-Reissue the FY2026 DBI funding opportunity without a matching requirement.
-Maintaining the established DBI funding structure will help ensure that federal resources continue reaching dairy businesses when they are needed most.

Thank you for your consideration and for your support of America's dairy farmers and processors.

Sincerely,