The Connecticut Milk Promotion Board (CTMPB), administered by the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, is pleased to announce up to $500,000 available in funding opportunities for programming in fiscal year 2022-23. These opportunities align with their core focus which includes the vision of increasing purchases and expanding the access of milk and dairy products to consumers, retailers, institutions, and other applicable outlets. The funding is intended to support the CTMPB’s mission to develop, coordinate, and implement promotional, research, and other programs designed to promote Connecticut dairy farms and the consumption of milk and dairy products.
“These funding opportunities will enable us to continue building upon the work done over the past year which aligns with the strategic vision plan created with input from the state’s dairy farmers and formally adopted by the board in 2020,” said Paul Miller, Chairman of the CTMPB. “The board has honed our focus on funding to include consumer nutrition education, multi-media marketing, and farmer engagement programs to meet our five-year target of realizing an increase in dairy purchases and consumption throughout the supply chain in Connecticut.”
The CTMPB has up to $500,000 available for programming and expects to award contracts up to $200,000 each in the first two bulleted program areas and no more than $100,000 in the third bulleted program area:
-Partnerships with various types of retail, educational, and professional organizations that will lead to the increase in dairy consumption.
-Multi-media campaigns promoting the value of Connecticut’s dairy farms and the accessibility of milk.
-Farmer engagement programs to educate and engage dairy farmers on the utilization of their checkoff dollars.
-Proposed applicants can apply for any combination of the above program areas and are not limited to applying for only one. Eligible entities include businesses, extension agencies, agricultural and non-profit organizations, universities, community colleges, educational institutions, agricultural science schools, research organizations, and contract media vendors. Interested applicants should review each funding guidance document to confirm their eligibility.
Funding is provided through dairy checkoff dollars, established through the national dairy checkoff order. CGS Sec. 22-authorizes the CTMPB to award grant funds from Connecticut’s portion of checkoff dollars. All projects should be conducted in accordance with the national dairy checkoff order, which can be found at: httpst//www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/research-promotion/dairy.
Additional details on the dairy grant funding opportunities can be found on www.CTGrown.gov/grants. For more information on Connecticut Milk Promotion Board and Connecticut Dairy, visit CTDairy.org.
