Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced Wednesday that 11 dairy farms and businesses have received grants to modernize their operations and improve efficiency through the Choose Iowa Dairy Innovation Grant Program.
The program is awarding a total of $614,620 to help producers purchase equipment and adopt new technologies, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. The 11 projects announced are expected to leverage more than $1.27 million in total investment.
The competitive grants, which require a one-to-one financial match, support projects ranging from on-farm processing and packaging equipment to herd health monitoring technology and robotics.
“Choose Iowa is creating new opportunities for farmers, food businesses, and consumers,” Naig said. “These grants help dairy farmers add value to what they already do so well by expanding processing capacity, developing new products, and adopting technologies that improve efficiency.”
The Department of Agriculture received 40 project applications for this round of funding, totaling more than $2.25 million in requests. The program is specifically intended to support smaller Iowa dairy farms and processors with fewer than 50 employees.
Since the program launched in 2024, it has funded 46 projects, resulting in approximately $7.6 million in total leveraged investment, the department reported.
Robert Horst, a dairy farmer from Bristow and president of the Iowa State Dairy Association, said the program provides a tangible return on investment for the industry.
“It’s one of the few grant programs where Iowans can truly see, touch, and taste the results of the investment every day in their local communities,” Horst said.
Choose Iowa is the state’s branding program for Iowa-grown and Iowa-made food and agricultural products.
2026 On-Farm Processing Projects:
Country View Dairy | Hawkeye | $72,050
Six-lane bottling machine with rotary filling and capping system with conveyor.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $144,100
Sweet Doe Company | Keota | $2,071.90
Freeze dryer, freeze-dry tray stackers, ice cream maker and popsicle molds.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $4,143.79
Frisian Farms Cheese | Leighton | $52,844
Automated cheese wheel cutter.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $105,688
Dutch Girl Dairy, Inc. | Marion | $74,806.25
On-farm processing building complete with the necessary equipment and training to process Grade A raw milk into pasteurized dairy products for distribution to local consumers.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $149,612.50
Moore Local | Maquoketa | $14,643.03
Milk transport equipment to move milk between the dairy farm and creamery.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $29,286
2026 Labor-Saving Technology Projects:
Bonert and Kennedy Farm LLC | Epworth | $12,336.17
eSense activity monitoring collars and a supporting antenna system to reduce labor demands and improve herd management.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $24,672.34
Vellema Dairy | Harris | $75,500
Double-seven parabone-style milking parlor.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $182,848.66
Lango Dairy | Hopkinton | $100,000
Manure collectors, a feed pusher, automatic footbath, and related labor-saving improvements.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $200,550
Gav-n-view Farm | Lansing | $40,000
MTech Robo Post Sprayer, a robotic teat disinfection system that will be integrated into a new milking parlor.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $80,000
Dutchland Dairy | Rolfe | $94,869
Monitoring collars with pulsation monitoring systems.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $189,738
Rolinda Acres Dairy | Waterville | $75,500
Progesterone testing technology to improve reproductive management.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $164,544.93
