The Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association is applauding an advanced state budget deal that includes $150 million in support for the Agricultural Roads Improvement Program.
“Wisconsin’s investments in rural road infrastructure make a meaningful difference—not just for dairy processors, but for the communities they anchor,” says WCMA Senior Director of Programs & Policy Rebekah Sweeney. “These dollars strengthen our supply chain and make our roads safer.”
The 2023-25 Wisconsin State Budget included $150 million in ARIP funding. Across two award cycles, a total of $111.4 million went to projects that, at least in part, benefited Wisconsin dairy businesses.
Dairy processors directly benefiting from ARIP awards in the past biennium include Agropur, Bel Brands, Burnett Dairy, Cedar Valley Cheese, Chalet Cheese Cooperative, Decatur Dairy, Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery, Gilman Cheese, Heartisan Foods-North Country Packaging, Integrity Cheese Packaging, K&K Cheese, LaGrander’s Hillside Dairy, Mullins Cheese, Pagel’s Ponderosa, Pasture Pride Cheese, Pine River Pre-Pack, Renard’s Cheese, Revela Foods, Springside Cheese, and Two Guernsey Girls Creamery.
WCMA has consistently advocated alongside partners from the Wisconsin Ag Coalition, including the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation and the Dairy Business Association, for ARIP’s continued funding.
