2022 December Board Book

CDIC interns finalized their projects, and are preparing reports on their assignments as well as short-videos designed to highlight their experiences. The videos and testimonies will be posted on CDIC’s website to help attract of students with various backgrounds to the dairy sector. Over 10 internships will be made available by CDIC in 2023. Strengthening Academic Capacity CDIC worked with staff at CalPoly and the CAFES Dean’s office to prepare an application for equipment upgrades and new equipment for both the creamery and the pilot plant. The ~$1 million application would be funded by the State of California, as part of a $17 million grant received for all farm units at the University. CDIC is preparing its 2023 application for $100,000 in funding by Dairy Management Inc., to complement the direct funding by DMI of the pilot plant at CalPoly. This additional funding will CDIC help build training and tech support capacity across the state at the other campuses which are committed to support undergraduate dairy processing education programs, graduate research and offer training workshops for our existing workforce. Contracts from Fresno State were awarded to CDIC for 2023 for a total of $115,545 as part of the Dairy Business Innovation Initiative, Phase I and Phase II. The funding is for technical support to industry, implementation of training programs, community college outreach and assistance with communication of the grants to industry program. CDIC is a primary partner of the Dairy Business Innovation Initiative, the $1.8 million grant awarded late 2021. In June, USDA awarded the Pacific Coast Coalition ~$19 million grant (2022-2026). The DBII Phase II will allow significant upgrades to our academic research capacity and geographic expansion. The program includes $9.5 million in grants to industry and dairy producers for product innovation-focused projects. Applications for a $1.7 million Phase III grants were completed in September, and under current review by USDA.