Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the Biden-Harris Administration is investing $73 million in 21 grant projects through the first round of the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP). The funding will expand meat and poultry processing capacity, which in turn increases competition, supports producer income, and strengthens the food supply chain to lower costs for working families and create jobs and economic opportunities in rural areas. In addition, the Administration is investing $75 million for eight projects through the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program, as well as more than $75 million for four meat and poultry-related projects through the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan program.
In an interview with AgNet Media, Secretary Vilsack described a few programs that will benefit the Southeast region directly.
“In Georgia, we’re really focused on a couple of things, a couple of loan guarantees to facilities in Georgia. There’s a facility that is essentially going to get a twenty-four-million-dollar loan guarantee, which is going to allow them to produce prepared food products with extended shelf life by using high-pressure processing. There’s also a facility in Gainesville, Georgia, that’s receiving a loan guarantee of over ten million dollars to secure additional processing, deboning, and portioning equipment that will allow them to expand,” he said.
Producers in Alabama and Florida, as well as Louisiana and Mississippi, will benefit from funding to a facility in Leakesville, Mississippi, which provides pork and beef processing for producers in those states. With this investment, they will significantly increase their capacity and shorten the six-month backlog for processing currently facing producers.
In a statement, Secretary Vilsack said, “By jumpstarting independent processing projects and increasing processing capacity, these investments create more opportunities for farmers and ranchers to get a fair price, while strengthening supply chains, delivering more food produced closer to home for families, expanding economic opportunity, and creating jobs in rural America.”
The investments are part of a series of financial assistance tools to support producers and lenders in increasing capacity in the food supply chain.
Listen to Sabrina Halvorson’s program here.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.