The Center’s Dairy Decisions Consultant (DDC) Program Is Now Open The Center for Dairy Excellence is now accepting applications for the Dairy Decisions Consultant (DDC) Grant Program for the 2023-24 year. Through the grant program, dairy farm families can work with a professional consultant with firsthand experience in the dairy industry to help make decisions…
Todd Benedict of Sunset Dairy in Warren County, Pennsylvania is no stranger to adversity. After losing his entire farm and 110 cows to a fire in 2011, he found a way to rebuild so he could continue farming. Today he has 650 cows, 720 acres, and continues to find ways to optimize his dairy operation…
The Grants Help Support Improvement Projects and Value-Added Consulting The Center for Dairy Excellence will open two competitive grant programs on September 15, 2023 for Pennsylvania dairy producers and dairy value-added operations who are looking to advance their businesses. Leveraging funds provided through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center, the…
Kerry Zeiset, a dairy producer from Lancaster County, had an active role on his family’s 72-cow dairy farm and a strong interest in continuing to farm with his family in the future. Like many dairy farm families, he just wasn’t sure how to take the next steps into ownership with his parents. When his mom…
When John Nolt, a dairy farmer from Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, bought an old mill and corner lot in December of 2017, he never anticipated how much of an impact it would have on his community. With a 50-cow herd, Nolt and his family dreamt of restoring the mill and opening their own creamery to sell homemade…
The Dairy Excellence Grants Were Awarded to 42 Dairy Producers From 23 PA Counties The Center for Dairy Excellence recently awarded a collective total of $210,000 to 42 Pennsylvania dairy producers through the fifth round of the Dairy Excellence Grant program. Leveraging funds provided through the PA Dairymen’s Association and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, this…
Ariel Herrod may be a full-time dairy farmer and the owner of Clear Spring Creamery at the age of 31, but her path to breaking into the dairy industry wasn’t a traditional one. Herrod grew up in the suburbs of Baltimore with no family roots in dairy farming. What she did have was an independent…
The Grants Help Support Improvement Projects Related to Cow Comfort, Efficiency, and Milk Production The next round of funding for the Dairy Excellence Grant Program opens on February 1, and Pennsylvania dairy producers have until February 28 to submit a grant application. The program is ideal for Pennsylvania dairy producers who want to improve cow…
Abbie Evans of A Joy Swiss in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania may have grown up in multiple generations of dairy farming, but she has worked with her husband to build their first-generation Brown Swiss herd and start their dairy operation from the ground up. Right on the Pennsylvania and New York border, Abbie and her husband…
The Dairy Excellence Grants Were Awarded to 20 Dairy Producers From 12 PA Counties The Center for Dairy Excellence recently awarded a collective total of $100,000 to 20 Pennsylvania dairy producers through the fourth round of the Dairy Excellence Grant program. Leveraging funds provided through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, this investment from Ag Excellence supported…
