In a letter to the Trump administration, Gov. Tony Evers Monday urged U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to withdraw a recent policy change that Evers said could cost Wisconsin dairy interests millions of dollars.
Evers said in a press release that the change, a 25% cost-share requirement for Dairy Business Innovation Initiative program funding, jeopardizes Wisconsin’s dairy farmers, cheesemakers, processors and small dairy businesses.
Wisconsin is home to one of four DBII locations that provide grant funding and technical assistance to dairy businesses.
Evers’ letter comes as a coalition of 28 organizations have called on the USDA to rescind this policy change.
Evers said the shift is especially damaging at a time when tariffs and higher energy costs are already hurting farm operations.
“During your recent visit to the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin, you rightly recognized the positive impact the Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives (DBII) program has had on the dairy industry,” Evers wrote to Rollins. “In your remarks, you claimed that you would ‘never stop fighting’ for dairy farmers.
“Dairy farmers in the Midwest and across the nation need you to fight for them now, and if you really want to help, you can start by withdrawing the new, arbitrary 25% cost-share requirement for DBII program funding and reissuing the FY2026 DBII funding opportunity without this burdensome provision.”
