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USDA Committing $215 Million to Enhance American Food Supply Chain

The department is making the money available for projects and support that will promote competition, increase resiliency, and create economic opportunities in rural America.

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The USDA is making up to $215 million available in grants and other support to expand meat and poultry processing options, strengthen the food supply chain, and create jobs and economic opportunities in rural areas.

USDA Rural Development will make $150 million available in grants to fund startup and expansion activities in the meat and poultry processing sector. Grants of up to $25 million each will be given to expand processing capacity through a variety of activities, including but not limited to, construction, expansion of existing facilities, and acquisition of equipment.

The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) will provide another $40 million for workforce development and training, while the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will provide $25 million to offer technical assistance to grant applicants and others seeking resources related to meat and poultry processing.

The USDA is encouraging applications that benefit smaller farms and ranches, new and beginning farmers and ranchers, tribes and tribal producers, socially disadvantaged producers, military veteran producers, and underserved communities.

For additional information, visit www.rd.usda.gov/mppep. All application materials can be found at www.rd.usda.gov/mppep or www.grants.gov. Applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 11, 2022, through www.grants.gov.


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The USDA’s NIFA also will be investing an additional $40 million through existing workforce development programs to create a pipeline of well-trained workers to meet the demand for both current processors and increased independent processing capacity. The primary investment will be through competitive grants to support workforce training at community, junior, and technical colleges with programs specifically for meat and poultry processing. A Request for Applications will be published in April 2022.

In addition, to ensure entities proposing independent meat and poultry processing projects through the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP) have full service technical assistance support from application through post-award, the USDA’s AMS will provide approximately $25 million in funding to establish partnerships with organizations that will provide technical assistance to MPPEP applicants, recent recipients, and future applicants of the Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grant program, as well as entities who require general guidance and resources on meat and poultry processing. More information about the technical assistance is available here: Meat and Poultry Supply Chain website.



 


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