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Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins launched the Small Processors Action Plan, a new set of actions to better support small and very small meat and poultry processing plants, improve customer service, and reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens while maintaining strong food safety protections for consumers. Additionally, Secretary Rollins announced that USDA is accepting applications for the fourth round of the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program to expand American meat and poultry processing.
The USDA Rural Business and Cooperative Service published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for $60 million to fund a fourth phase of the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP) to help eligible meat and poultry processors expand their capacity, encourage competition and sustainable growth in the U.S. meat processing sector, and to help improve supply chain resiliency. Available funding will be divided equally into two separate competitions: one for Small and Very Small Processors and one for Intermediate Processors.
Eligible applications include for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, producer-owned cooperatives, tribes, and tribal entities. Privately-owned entities must be independently owned and operated, and all entities must be domestically owned. Additionally, the applicant’s processing facility must be physically located and operating in the United States or its territories. The applicant’s facility must primarily process cattle in order for the project to be eligible for the program; however, funds or equipment may be used for processing meat and poultry at the facility.
Additional information is available on USDA’s MPPEP website and electronic applications must be submitted through Grants.gov.
USDA
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