U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced last week that the USDA is providing 15 awards totaling $115 million in 17 states that will go toward beefing up independent processing capacity across the country.
The announcement follows President Joe Biden’s address on “Bidenomics” – his idea for “growing the economy from the middle out and bottom up by investing in America, increasing competition and empowering workers,” according to a USDA news release.
“While American farmers and ranchers have been responding to the demand to produce more, their communities have struggled to see their share of the benefits,” Vilsack said. “Under the leadership of the Biden-Harris administration, USDA is committed to championing meat and poultry processors, increasing competition and lowering costs for working families. The announcement I’m making today highlights these producers and reflects the goals of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which advances a sustainable vision of agriculture, prioritizes the needs of our producers and small businesses, promotes competition, strengthens our domestic agricultural supply chains and brings prosperity to people and places in rural parts of our country.”
The USDA is providing five awards totaling $38 million through the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program to help independent processors in five states. The USDA is also providing 10 awards totaling $77 million under the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program in 12 states. View the full list.
With an eye on creating a pipeline of skilled workers to fill those processing plants, the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture is also providing seven awards totaling $4.5 million to community and technical colleges in seven states through the Meat and Poultry Processing – Agricultural Workforce Training program. View the full list.
The processing grants will go toward projects in Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
The educational grants will go toward institutions in Arizona, Arkansas, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas.
