The Dairy Modernization Grant Program — funding from the state for dairy farms statewide, including 13 farms in Western New York, awarded back in June — is helping dairy farms across the state by supporting their work to become more climate resilient and to also help their milk handling and storage capacity.

The funding was announced as a part of Governor Hochul’s 2024 State of the State, with allocations coming in the 2025-2026 fiscal budget. Specifically for Chautauqua County there were four farms awarded funding from this grant program; Country Ayre Farms, Mid-Knight Dairy, Nobles Farms BD, LLC, and Odell Farms. Other farms awarded funding through the grant across Western New York include; Cattaraugus County farms; Blesy Farms, Bliss Dairy Company, Inc, Michael Durow- Durow Farms, Schwab Dairy Farm, Telaak Farms LLC, Thomas Degenfelder, and Wilean Farms, LLC. Erie County farms that got funding were Eden Valley Dairy, LLC, Preische Farms Inc, and TW Dairy Farm, LLC.

Katelyn Walley-Stoll, Agricultural Team Leader with Cornell Cooperative Extension, said that the grants awarded ranged from $50,000 to $250,000 with no match requirement, which is something she added that is unusual for a program like this. It is also something she noted that was pretty competitive, but also something that is going to support a lot of dairy farms.

“Dairy farming is tough,” Walley-Stoll said. “There is a high input cost for a low profit. Milk brings in a low price but is a necessary commodity, especially in Chautauqua County. Grants like this show the state’s investment in the agriculture and dairy industry and it helps farms to take action on improvements that they might not have the money to do otherwise.”

Specifically, she said the Dairy Modernization Grant Program will help these farms be able to produce more milk and store it longer while also helping them achieve their climate smart farm goals. Activities that were funded included: expansion of on-farm milk storage capacity, efficiency improvements, milk transfer systems, cooling technologies, and other purposes related to the transportation or storage of milk. Project priority areas included: Project will expand, improve or install on farm storage capacity, milk transfer systems, and/or cooling technologies; Project will increase energy efficiencies on farms; Project will improve food safety / quality measures; Project will provide cost-savings to the farms; Project will decrease raw milk dumping; Project increases farm’s resilience to changing market conditions, uncertain environmental conditions, and/or supply chain interruptions.

Walley-Stoll said that Cornell Cooperative Extension keeps their ears to the ground for any potential grant opportunities, including the Dairy Modernization Grant Program, and will share information with farmers directly through emails and phone calls. While they cannot apply for the grants directly for farms, they have the ability to help farmers gather all of the materials and apply for these grants themselves. Applications for the program opened Nov. 1, 2024 and were due Feb. 14, 2025. Cornell Cooperative Extension staff and specialists assisted farms with their business planning efforts for the grant, along with other lending and support institutions.

Originally, the Dairy Modernization Grant Program was set to have a second round of funding available for farms to apply to, but Walley-Stoll said she was not sure if that was the case anymore. Other similar grants are available for interested farmers through the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center, and more information on those can be found at nedairyinnovation.com/grants/.

Walley-Stoll said the dairy industry is something that remains extremely important to Western New York’s economy, especially in Chautauqua County. Chautauqua County is home to 1,291 farms. 109 of those farms are dairy, or eight percent of them. Chautauqua County farms produce $242,021,000 in market value of ag products sold. $116,714,000, or 48% is in milk sales. Dairy farms in Chautauqua County account for half of the county’s agricultural revenue. Dairy farms in Chautauqua County make enough milk daily to meet the nutritional needs of over one million people.

While the number of dairy farms has decreased significantly, by 67% from 2017 to 2022, the number of dairy cows and the amount of milk being produced has remained the same.

“We should help support dairy farms in Chautauqua County and help them combat their financial struggles,” Walley-Stoll said. “There is not much money in dairy but dairy farms are important for Western New York. The dairy industry makes up 50% of the agriculture in the county. There are still a lot of family farms.”