The Dairy Processor Grant program, which is administered by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), is designed to help implement projects that increase production, profitability, processing, marketing, or distribution of Wisconsin dairy products or that benefit the dairy industry in other ways. The Meat Processor Infrastructure Grant program, which also is administered by DATCP, is designed to help implement projects that increase a meat processing facility’s harvest capacity by 20.0 percent or more per year or that benefit Wisconsin’s meat sector in other ways. We reviewed each of the 14 dairy processor grants and each of the 9 meat processor infrastructure grants that DATCP executed in fiscal year (FY) 2024-25. We also reviewed each of the 21 dairy processor grants and each of the 17 meat processor infrastructure grants that ended in FY 2024-25. In general, state grants involve management of the pre-award, active, and closeout stages. We identified pre-award stage concerns related to application scoring and review and grant awards. We also identified active stage concerns related to monitoring, reports, and reimbursements. Finally, we identified closeout stage concerns related to project completion and program outcomes. We make 23 recommendations to DATCP for improvements.
