HARRISONBURG, Va., Feb. 21, 2023 – U.S. Division of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack as we speak introduced the Biden-Harris Administration is investing $59 million across the country (PDF, 153 KB) to extend unbiased meat and poultry processing capability, develop market alternatives for farmers and create jobs in rural areas.
The investments help the Biden-Harris Administration’s Action Plan for a Fairer, More Competitive, and More Resilient Meat and Poultry Supply Chain, which dedicates sources to develop unbiased processing capability. As President Biden has highlighted, creating fairer markets and extra alternatives for household farmers helps convey down costs on the grocery retailer.
“For too lengthy, American farmers and ranchers have been requested to supply extra to fulfill growing demand throughout the nation and around the globe, whereas they and the agricultural communities they arrive from have struggled to see their justifiable share of the advantages,” Vilsack mentioned. “The Biden-Harris Administration and USDA are taking motion to advance a sustainable imaginative and prescient of agriculture that prioritizes the wants of our resilient producers and small companies, strengthens our meals provide chain and brings worth again to rural folks and locations. By investments like these I’m saying as we speak, USDA will proceed to work tirelessly to present farmers and ranchers a good likelihood to compete within the market, which in flip helps decrease meals prices for the American folks.”
Secretary Vilsack introduced the brand new investments whereas touring a processing facility in Harrisonburg that will likely be expanded with the funding. Vilsack and Deputy Secretary Jewel Bronaugh visited with native producers and members of the group to debate the significance of those investments to the area’s economic system.
USDA is offering the $59 million in grants to 5 unbiased processors below the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP). The funding will assist construct new processing crops, create a whole bunch of jobs, give native producers and entrepreneurs extra choices and enterprise alternatives, and provides shoppers extra choices on the grocery retailer.
For instance:
- In Virginia, Shenandoah Valley Natural LLC is receiving a $3.6 million grant to develop its natural hen processing facility in Harrisonburg to fulfill growing demand. The grant will likely be used for tools purchases, new conveyor strains, constructing and web site modifications, and a brand new wastewater remedy system. The enhancements will assist the power alleviate processing bottlenecks and almost double its processing capability to 630,000 birds per week. These investments will create 300 jobs and allow Shenandoah Valley to supply extra processing choices and decisions for purchasers.
- In Idaho, Riverbend Meats LLC is receiving a $25 million grant to assist construct an environmentally pleasant beef processing plant in Idaho Falls. The funding additionally will likely be used for customized tools and set up of 9 miles of mainline fuel pipe. The venture is predicted to double the plant’s capability from 300 head per day to 600, growing the value ranchers obtain for his or her cattle and reducing prices for shoppers.
- In South Dakota, CNF Enterprises LLC is receiving a $3.3 million grant to assist construct a 30,000-square-foot processing facility in New Underwood. The ability could have the capability to course of 4,000 head per yr, together with beef, pork, lamb and buffalo. CNF Enterprises is a brand new firm that was fashioned to assist meet the growing demand for high-quality, domestically sourced meat merchandise.
By the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation, and the Inflation Discount Act, the Biden-Harris Administration has made once-in-a-generation investments in rural America. These investments have supplied USDA with an unprecedented quantity of sources to put money into rural communities and remodel our meals system.
In November, USDA awarded $75 million to 22 initiatives below MPPEP. In January, USDA awarded a further $12 million to a few extra MPPEP initiatives. This system is one among many actions that USDA is taking to develop processing capability, create extra income streams and market alternatives for producers, and remodel the nation’s meals system.
Extra data on all these packages is on the market at www.usda.gov/meat.
Underneath the Biden-Harris Administration, Rural Growth offers loans, grants and mortgage ensures to assist develop financial alternatives, create jobs and enhance the standard of life for tens of millions of People in rural areas. This help helps infrastructure enhancements; enterprise improvement; housing; group amenities comparable to colleges, public security and well being care; and high-speed web entry in rural, Tribal and high-poverty areas. For extra data, go to www.rd.usda.gov.
USDA touches the lives of all People every day in so many optimistic methods. Underneath the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is remodeling America’s meals system with a higher deal with extra resilient native and regional meals manufacturing, selling competitors and fairer markets for all producers, guaranteeing entry to protected, wholesome and nutritious meals in all communities, constructing new markets and streams of earnings for farmers and producers utilizing climate-smart meals and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clear power capabilities in rural America, and committing to fairness throughout the Division by eradicating systemic boundaries and constructing a workforce extra consultant of America. To be taught extra, go to www.usda.gov.
To subscribe to USDA Rural Growth updates, go to GovDelivery subscriber page.
#
USDA is an equal alternative supplier, employer, and lender.