The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center is pleased to announce the Dairy Farm Improvement & Modernization Grant Awards.
This grant funds a wide range of projects that prioritize long-term farm viability, animal welfare, milk production, and economic resilience for dairy farms. In this extremely competitive round, 153 dairies applied for grants, with a total ask of $10,079,260. While the demand for funds far exceeded the available funding, we expect to offer this program again in Fall 2026.
12 dairy businesses from across six states were selected for awards. Individual award amounts range from $28,774 to $100,000 with a total of $801,542 in overall funding.
This grant is expected to open again in Fall 2026. Learn more about the Dairy Farm Improvement & Modernization Grant, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to find out about the next round.
The following businesses have been selected for awards:
Faber Farm, Maine – $45,300 to purchase and install SenseHub Dairy Monitoring technology and SCR collars for their herd. This system will help the farmers manage reproduction and provide data for the farm team, veterinarian and nutritionist to make proactive changes and smarter decision making.
University of Maine, Maine – $30,024 to add two systems to the UMaine teaching farm: progesterone testing as part of their milking robot’s capability, and an automated cattle body condition scoring system. These upgrades will expand their ability to serve both beginning and existing dairy farmers across the state and region.
Benedikt Dairy, New Hampshire – $77,986 to update their calf and heifer management by purchasing group calf pens and a milk taxi. These upgrades will improve animal welfare, sanitation and labor efficiency.
Middlebush Farms, New Jersey – $41,962 to install automated feed pushes, mattresses, SmaxTec monitoring, and a variable speed pump. These improvements will enhance feed and forage quality, improve animal health, provide cow comfort, reduce labor and save on energy resources for Middlebush Farms, which is the last remaining dairy farm in Somerset County, NJ.
Argus Acres, New York – $50,000 to install the Allflex MC200/ED200 milk metering and identification equipment in their existing Germania double-12 milking parlor to improve accuracy, efficiency, and herd resilience. This upgrade includes external displays, connection boxes, flow sensors, photo-cell cow ID components, pulsation controls, and network infrastructure. The system will enhance real-time data capture, streamline milking workflows, support herd-health decisions, and strengthen long-term operational sustainability.
Brooks Edge Dairy, New York – $88,797 to transition a 72-cow tie-stall dairy to a pasture-based, low-overhead dairy grazing system. This project includes the installation of a labor-efficient swing milking parlor and upgraded storage, improved grazing management, and implementation of cost-effective loose housing for the herd. This transition plan was created with the support of technical assistance through an NE-DBIC cohort and will create the capacity for expanding the herd to 150.
Tolman Sheep Dairy Services, New York – $73,720 to form a dairy sheep cohort with commercial sheep dairies across the Northeast. This project will develop key performance measures for sheep dairy production, quality and economics. Cohort members will receive nutrition consultations and semi-annual individual breeding program consultations with a veterinarian who specializes in dairy sheep health.
Wilson Dairy, New York – $28,774 to modernize their cattle barn by upgrading the tie-stall systems through installing foam-topped rubber mats, adding feed-saver forward rails, converting the milking system to electric pulsation, and adding a variable speed vacuum pump. These integrated improvements will enhance cow comfort, labor efficiency, decrease energy usage, improve milk quality, and ensure long-term farm viability.
Smith-Ziegler Dairy, Pennsylvania – $100,000 to modernize and retrofit their manually operated feeding system into a fully automated feeding system. As part of the project, the farm will host a peer demonstration event and share pre- and post-installation data with neighboring farms and regional agricultural partners. This new technology upgrade will reduce labor, fuel use, feed waste and equipment wear while improving TMR consistency, milk components, and long-term viability.
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania – $100,000 to rebuild and expand their dairy decision-dashboard suite, update UPENN ration-optimization software, modernize key prediction equations (such as methane yield), and relaunch a benchmarking tool with economic indices. These tools will be used by the Penn Vet Dairy Team and offered to Northeast dairy farms for free. This project will also partially fund a veterinary intern to deliver on-farm training to ensure adoption of these tools by young, Plain-sect, and financially distressed producers.
Larson Farm, Vermont – $81,060 to convert a tie-stall to a double-6 milking parlor and to implement a collar system to monitor somatic cell count, cow health, heat activity, and daily milk production. This project will reduce labor expenses, improve worker comfort, improve udder health and milk quality to ensure financial viability for the farm as ownership transitions to the next generation.
Spring Brook Farm, Vermont – $83,935 to upgrade their milk pipeline from five discontinued milking units to six current model units with automatic take-offs and manufacturer support. This project will also expand housing capacity by six stalls, replace cow stall mats, and add ventilation to milking barn. These upgrades will allow the farm to grow its herd, increase milk production by 30%, improve animal health, and improve labor efficiency and long-term viability.
