20 September 2024

4 minute read

By: Global Ag Media

North America

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced yesterday that USDA is awarding more than $35 million in grants to 15 independent meat processors in 12 states to increase processing capacity, spur competition to expand market opportunities for US farmers and create jobs in rural areas. This marks the final investment in the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP), funded by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which was first launched in 2022.

The investments also advance the president’s Investing in America agenda and support the Administration’s Action Plan for a Fairer, More Competitive, and More Resilient Meat and Poultry Supply Chain, which dedicates resources to expand independent processing capacity.

“For the past four years, the Biden-Harris Administration has advanced a sustainable vision of agriculture that prioritises the needs of the hardworking producers and small business owners who keep rural communities strong,” Vilsack said. “Through investments like these, USDA is working to give farmers and ranchers a fair chance to compete in the marketplace, which will increase local food options and lower grocery costs for American families.”

Since the beginning of the program, USDA has provided 74 awards totalling more than $325 million through MPPEP to expand processing capacity and strengthen the food supply chain.

Many projects are still in development and have already increased the processing capacity at these facilities by more than 800,000 cattle, 14,000 hogs, 23 million chickens and 5 million turkeys annually. Additionally these projects are serving almost 900 additional meat and poultry producers and have created more than 1,200 new jobs.

As part of the announcement, the funding will help build new processing plants, create hundreds of jobs, give local producers and entrepreneurs better business opportunities, and give consumers more options at the grocery store. For example:

• America’s Heartland Packing is receiving a $10 million grant to build a large beef processing plant outside of St. Louis, Missouri. The plant will be LEED certified and will supply beef to domestic and international wholesalers, retailers, pet food companies and food manufacturers.
• Mark’s Custom Meats in Pennsylvania is receiving a $750,000 grant to double the size of their current meat processing facility, serving an additional 15 producers and creating four new full-time jobs.
• Damian's Craft Meats is a Latinx-owned processor and is using a $4 million grant to build a new facility in southeastern Michigan to serve local cattle, hog, goat, and lamb producers. Damian's will offer fee-for-service processing and will also purchase animals from local producers through competitive and transparent pricing.

The awards will benefit people living in Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York and Pennsylvania.

Delivering on Fair, Competitive, and Transparent Markets

MPPEP is one of many actions that USDA is taking to expand processing capacity, create more revenue streams and market opportunities for producers, and improve the competitive landscape in food and agricultural markets. Under President Biden’s historic Executive Order on Promoting Competition in America’s Economy and as set out in our competition report, USDA has led a whole-of-USDA approach and partaken in a whole-of-government initiative to improve the competitive landscape in food and agricultural markets.

Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA has invested over $1.4 billion to support new or expanded small-sized and medium-sized processing facilities and to create a more resilient, diverse and secure U.S. food supply chain. 

In addition, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has been holding small plant roundtables to assist small businesses with federal regulations. Between 2023 and 2024, 11 roundtables were held to provide an opportunity for communication and to help small plant owners and operations be successful.

USDA is also supporting greater transparency in markets, and in February 2024, finalized a new rule that only permits the voluntary “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” claim to be applied to those FSIS-regulated meat and poultry products that are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States, which better aligns with consumer understanding of what the label means.

In the last three and a half years, USDA has put forth a suite of critical new rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 to promote transparency in contracting and tournaments; address unfairness and deception in broiler grower payments; poultry grower ranking systems and capital improvement systems; prohibit discrimination, retaliation, and deception in a range of circumstances; and provide better clarity around unfair practices and competitive injury. With two final rules, two more proposed rules and more on the way, USDA is reinvigorating the century-old fair and competitive market laws to empower producers and growers.

USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal and high-poverty areas. Visit the Rural Data Gateway to learn how and where these investments are impacting rural America.