The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) today announced more than $3.2 million of grants to 10 Michigan entities, including one in Tuscola County, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Grant Program.
Through the RFSI program, the USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) entered into cooperative agreements with state agencies, commissions or departments responsible for agriculture, commercial food processing, seafood or food system and distribution activities or commerce activities in states or U.S. territories.
MDARD awards RFSI funding through a competitive review process to support the creation of more and better processing options for local and regional producers across the scope of specialty crops, dairy, grain (for food), and other sectors.
As part of this grant round’s awards, Thistle Dew Creamery LLC in Vassar received $475,000 to build an on-site dairy cheese processing facility.
The creamery is owned by Drew and Beth Rupprecht, with Drew representing the sixth generation of his family to own and operate the creamery. According to their website, currently the creamery only offers small-batch specialty butters, but is looking forward to building a modern creamery right on the farm where visitors can taste delicious, locally made dairy products while watching the cows graze in nearby pastures.
