Dave Wilkins/Capital Press Jersey cows feed at the Ballard Family Dairy near Gooding, Idaho, in mid-March. The Ballards use milk from their 60-cow herd to make farmstead cheese.

1. Program detail

Idaho dairy operators have until Aug. 31 to apply for concentrated animal feeding operation improvement grants through the state Department of Environmental Quality.

Fewer applications and smaller projects could be seen compared to 2022, the program’s first year, said Rick Naerebout, Idaho Dairymen’s Association president and CEO.

“On-farm economics are very different than they were last year, and dairies are losing tremendous amounts of money,” he said. Milk sells for around $14 per hundredweight, yet costs $21 to $22 to produce, he said.

Any grant money that goes unspent this year will be available next year, Naerebout said.

Idaho has a big dairy industry. But dairies do not qualify for funding under the federal Clean Water Act Section 319 Nonpoint Source Grant Program — which targets pollution that does not come from a single, identifiable source — or from the state’s popular agricultural best management practices grant fund.

The legislature for the July 1 fiscal year approved $5 million in 2022 and $5 million in 2023 for the CAFO improvement grant program, using state general fund surplus money.

“The program worked well in 2022,” Naerebout said. The state CAFO Improvement Fund Committee received 22 project applications from dairies of various sizes.

The committee in October awarded $5 million in grants to 13 applicants, according to a department news release. Successful applicants demonstrated significant improvement in operations, and in grant scoring ranked highest in water and air quality protection categories.

Improvements to soil, water and air quality are targeted, according to the release. The grants emphasize manure and nutrient management.

The committee has worked to spread the grants’ benefits throughout the industry, Naerebout said. Applicants who did not receive funding last year will get additional points this year, and those who received a grant last year and completed the project can apply for a grant this year to help pay for a new project.

At least 40% of a project’s total cost must come from other sources, according to the department. Grants are capped at $1 million per owner or partnership.