The US Department of Agriculture is investing $59 million to expand market opportunities for farmers, increase independent meat and poultry processing capacity and create jobs in rural areas.
The $59 million in grants will help build new processing plants, create hundreds of jobs, give local producers and entrepreneurs more options and business opportunities and give consumers more options at the grocery store. The grants are going to five independent processors under the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program.
In South Dakota, $3.3 million will be spent at New Underwood to help CNF Enterprises LLC build a 30,000-square-foot processing facility. It’ll have the capacity to process 4,000 head per year, including beef, pork, lamb and buffalo. CNF Enterprises is a new company that was formed to help meet the increasing demand for high-quality, locally sourced meat products.
In November 2022, USDA awarded $75 million to 22 projects under MPPEP. In January 2023, USDA awarded an additional $12 million to three more MPPEP projects. The program is one of many actions that USDA is taking to expand processing capacity, create more revenue streams and market opportunities for producers, and transform the nation’s food system.
Additional information on all these programs is available at www.usda.gov/meat.
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