Agriculture is built upon our rural communities. As such, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is aiming to increase business opportunities in those communities by leveling out the playing field for producers. U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the USDA is investing $73 million in 21 projects through the first round of the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP). Vilsack said the funds distributed under the program are intended to help increase production capacity across the supply chain.
?Increase competition and expand capacity, strengthen the supply chain, make sure that we fostered a producer-focused business model, strengthen local and regional food systems, reduce barriers to processing, did things at-scale, help to create jobs, and over time, lower costs for consumers by expanding choice,? Vilsack said. ?At USDA, we’ve been focused for the last nine months on developing more, new, and better markets for our producers. And certainly, by expanding capacity and competition, I think we, in fact, are, in essence, creating more, new, and better markets for producers.?
Vilsack said the funding will also get used to help jumpstart independent processing projects.
?This required a comprehensive approach,? Vilsack said. ?As we approached this, it required programs that would provide resources for new and expanded capacity and markets, provide resources for strengthening the supply chain between the farmer and the consumer, and making sure that there was the availability of credit when the opportunities or circumstances required it. We announced awards supporting all three aspects of this approach in the President’s plan for fair and competitive markets.?
Several grant projects in Iowa will be receiving some of these funds. Today, Theresa Greenfield, USDA Rural Development State Director for Iowa, announced that the USDA is investing over $16 million in three grant projects in Iowa through the first round of the MPPEP and $15 million through the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program (MPILP). On top of that, the USDA is also making an over $38 million loan through the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program (FSCGLP). Greenfield said these investments will help in strengthening Iowa?s rural communities through increased business opportunities.
?Iowans need access to an equitable, stable food supply chain and opportunities to maintain jobs and businesses in rural communities,? Greenfield said. ?The Biden-Harris Administration has sought out every opportunity to expand meat and poultry processing and to deliver funding opportunities to food production projects in the middle of the supply chain. These investments announced today place Iowa center stage in the effort to create resilience in food manufacturing, to promote employment, and to strengthen Iowa?s rural communities.?
The Iowa projects announced today are as follows:
- Region XII Council of Governments Inc., an association for cooperative planning, based in Carroll County, will use the $15 million grant from MPILP to increase the number of meat and poultry producers in the state, provide capital for investment, and promote employment in the processing sector.
- Cherokee Locker Investment Inc. in Cherokee County is receiving a $542,425 MPPEP grant to build a new mixed species processing facility to increase capacity. The new facility will make Federal inspections possible to enable producers to sell meat in local retail markets and online.
- Upper Iowa Beef LLC, an independently owned beef harvest and processing facility in Lime Springs, will use a $8,871,440 MPPEP grant to expand the facility in Howard County and increase capacity to accommodate independent livestock producers.
- Pure Prairie Farms Inc. in Charles City is receiving a $6,963,725 MPPEP grant and a $38,720,000 loan from the FSCGLP. The funding will help the poultry processor in Floyd County expand and renovate a shuttered processing plant.
For more information on all of these programs, visit usda.gov/meat.
