USDA awards $115 million to boost independent meat processors

On Thursday, as part of an administration initiative to increase independent meat processing capacity, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $38 million in grants to processors and $77 million to intermediary lenders to finance the start-up, expansion, or operation of independent processing facilities. The result will be a stronger food supply chain and more competition in the meat processing sector, said the administration.

“USDA is committed to championing meat and poultry processors, increasing competition, and lowering costs for working families,” said Vilsack during a visit to Iowa. “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.”

The administration said two years ago that it would put $1 billion into an expansion of independent processing capacity in the highly concentrated meatpacking industry. A handful of companies account for the bulk of meat and poultry slaughter.

The new awards dovetailed with a three-week “Investing in America” blitz led by President Biden to call attention to federal investment in infrastructure and economic recovery from the pandemic. Vilsack’s role this week was to travel to Michigan and Iowa to highlight efforts “to improve access to nutritious foods, lower costs for consumers, and create more markets for farmers and producers,” said the White House.

In the funding announced on Thursday, the USDA said projects in five states would share $38 million in grants through the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program, whose goal is to increase competition, expand the meat supply, and improve the resiliency of the food supply chain.

Ten awards were made through the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program in 12 states with the goal of strengthening the financing capacity for independent processors and diversifying the food chain.

Some $257 million has been awarded through the programs so far this fiscal year, said the USDA.

Also on Thursday, the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded $4.5 million to community and technical colleges in seven states for training meat plant workers.

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition said the assistance to local and regional meat processors “will bring new avenues of growth to rural and urban communities alike.”