A grant aimed at the route to market
Shumway Farms, a sixth-generation dairy and creamery in Afton, Wyoming, has received a $172,000 Value-Added Producer Grant. USDA Rural Development announced the award on 5 October 2026 for the Lincoln County business, whose products include ice cream and skyr yogurt.
The stated purpose is to expand the customer base. USDA identifies three uses for the working capital: processing labour, marketing supplies and delivery of the farm’s value-added ice cream products. The award therefore covers several steps between making the product and putting it in customers’ hands.
Where the support will be used
Processing labour supports the work required to turn milk into a saleable product. Marketing supplies and delivery address the next part of the same commercial process: presenting those products to buyers and reaching them. These are the functions named in the announcement; it does not set out a new factory, equipment purchase or production-capacity target.
The farm raises pasture-fed cows and makes both ice cream and specialty skyr yogurt. Although the announcement describes that wider range, its specific list of grant-funded uses refers to the ice cream products.
Expansion is the objective
The programme is intended to help agricultural producers develop value-added products, create or expand marketing opportunities and increase producer income. In this case, the funding is attached to the practical costs of reaching a broader market.
The release does not report additional customers already secured or a measured increase in sales. Those outcomes will depend on how the working capital is deployed. For now, the confirmed development is the award and its specified commercial purpose.
- USDA Awards Value-Added Producer Grant to Shumway Farms, LLC ↗
U.S. Department of Agriculture · PUBLIC-DOMAIN. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Adapted by FoodRadar.