The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Jan. 9 announced the launch of several new programs to benefit farmers, ranchers, and US producers, including a $12 million investment to expand independent meat and poultry processing capacity in Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota.
International Food Solutions Inc. in Ohio is receiving $9,575,250 to help redevelop and expand a vacant building in Cleveland into a plant with the capacity to process 60 million pounds of poultry. The expansion includes cold and dry storage and two processing lines and will create 227 jobs.
The grower-owned cooperative Michigan Turkey Producers is receiving $1,531,204 to help upgrade the hot water system, wastewater treatment facilities, and refrigerated trailers to accommodate an expansion at its plant in Grand Rapids, Mich., allowing the company to double its processing capacity to 10 million turkeys annually.
And in Minnesota, Benson + Turner Foods Inc. is receiving $962,954 to build a 6,788-square-foot cattle and hog processing plant on the White Earth Indian Reservation and storefront near Waubun.
USDA also announced new programs to fill gaps in 2020/21 Natural Disaster Assistance under the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase 2 and the 2020 Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program (PARP). The ERP Phase 2 and PARP application period is open from Jan. 23 through June 2, 2023.
To be eligible for ERP Phase Two, USDA said producers must have suffered a decrease in allowable gross revenue in 2020 or 2021 due to necessary expenses related to losses of eligible crops from a qualifying natural disaster event.
To be eligible for PARP, an agricultural producer must have been in the business of farming during at least part of the 2020 calendar year and had a 15% or greater decrease in allowable gross revenue for the 2020 calendar year, as compared to a baseline year.
USDA said these programs are part of the Biden Administration’s commitment to lower costs for producers, increase competition and access to market opportunities, and ensure equity in designing and developing programs to help all producers.
“At USDA, our goal is to provide all farmers, including new and underserved producers, with the opportunity to receive the assistance they need to continue farming, to build and maintain their competitive-edge, and to access more, new, and better markets,” said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.