Dairy Checkoff Launches Online Grant Database for Farmers

New tool helps dairy farmers and advisors find conservation and on-farm improvement funding opportunities.

Mar. 18, 2026 at 6:18pm

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The dairy checkoff has created a new online Funding Opportunities Database to help dairy farmers and their advisors more easily identify grants and funding programs for conservation and on-farm improvements. The free resource is available through the Dairy Conservation Navigator and allows users to search by state, county, and funding focus areas like manure management, energy, cropland, water quality, and business development.

Why it matters

Identifying the right funding sources is often one of the most challenging steps for farmers pursuing new projects. This new database aims to streamline the process by bringing together conservation and business-focused funding opportunities from federal, state, and private sources in a single searchable platform.

The details

The database was developed by Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) to help dairy farmers manage their highly integrated operations covering livestock, cropland, manure, water, and energy use. The tool allows users to filter opportunities by project type, eligibility, and funding levels to find the best fit for specific initiatives. It also highlights programs that are currently open, opening soon, or recently closed to help with planning.

  • The Funding Opportunities Database launched in March 2026.

The players

Dairy Management Inc. (DMI)

The organization that manages the dairy checkoff program and developed the new online funding database.

Bridgett Hilshey

Senior director of environmental stewardship at Dairy Management Inc.

Jacqi Coleman

Leads partnership and education workstreams for U.S. dairy's environmental sustainability initiatives at Dairy Management Inc.

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What they’re saying

“Dairy farms operate as highly integrated systems. Farmers are managing livestock, cropland, manure, water and energy use all at the same time. That creates many opportunities for improvement but also makes identifying the right funding sources more complicated.”

— Bridgett Hilshey, Senior director of environmental stewardship

“Improving access to funding is one of the most consistent needs we hear from farmers and the organizations that support them. This database helps remove some of that friction by making it easier to see what's available and connect farmers with the resources that can help move projects forward.”

— Jacqi Coleman, Leads partnership and education workstreams for U.S. dairy's environmental sustainability initiatives

What’s next

The Funding Opportunities Database is available now at https://www.dairyconservation.org/grants for dairy farmers and their advisors to begin searching for relevant grant and funding programs.

The takeaway

This new online tool from the dairy checkoff aims to simplify the process of finding grants and other funding sources for dairy farmers pursuing conservation, sustainability, and on-farm improvement projects. By consolidating opportunities from multiple agencies and organizations in a single searchable platform, the database helps remove a key barrier to accessing critical resources.