The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Wednesday announced an additional $21.9 million of funding is being awarded to 111 grant projects through the Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grant Program (MPIRG), bringing total funding to $54.6 million. This year's awards will fund projects in 37 states. The funding will help strengthen and develop new market opportunities for meat and poultry processors throughout the United States. To further these efforts, AMS is also encouraging MPIRG awardees and eligible participants in USDA's Meat and Poultry Supply Chain initiatives to request assistance through the Meat and Poultry Processing Capacity Technical Assistance Program (MPPTA). Launched in March 2022, MPPTA connects participants to a nationwide network of resources and expertise.
"The Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grants will help meat and poultry processors make necessary facility improvements, expand their businesses, and strengthen the nation's food supply chain," said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. "These grants are one part of USDA's Meat and Poultry Supply Chain initiatives and will contribute to our efforts to transform our food system."
"USDA continues to build capacity and increase economic opportunity for small and midsized meat and poultry producers across the country," added Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt.
In Indiana, projects funded this round include:
- ROESCHLEIN MEAT PROCESSING LLC, Rising Sun, $200,000. Roeschlein Meat Processing LLC is a small slaughter and processing plant. This project includes modernizing their value-added production line to reduce food safety risks associated with outdated equipment and increase capacity by more than 2,000 pounds daily. They also include a modern, high capacity equipment to increase packaging capacity from 24 to 600 packages per hour, and a 720-sq-ft processing area expansion and 189 sq. ft. walk-in freezer for FSIS product separation and storage temperature compliance as they grow. Roeschlein Meat Processing LLC also includes an order traceability and management tool to have strong recall abilities and reduce administrative bottlenecks.
- This Old Farm, Inc., Colfax, $200,000. This Old Farm's meat processing facility has grown to capacity in the current 13,000-sq-ft facility. In 2021 they built a new building to house RTE (ready to eat) storage and further processing. This building is not attached to the current building and is applying for its own Federal Grant of Inspection; it will increase capacity by 110% when complete. The new facility is 10,000-sq-ft of which 3000 sq-ft is finished space. In order to operate under inspection, the remaining 7000-sq-ft need to comply with minimum SPS standards as outlined in 416 regulations. The company projects a total growth of 110% by 2025.
Facility improvements and expansions funded through MPIRG will help processors obtain a Federal Grant of Inspection or qualify for a state's Cooperative Interstate Shipment program. Achieving a Federal Grant of Inspection or operating under a Cooperative Interstate Shipment program allows meat and poultry processors to ship products across state lines, develop new markets, increase capacity, and better meet consumer and producer demand along the supply chain.
MPIRG recipients and other eligible participants, especially small and underserved stakeholders, in USDA's Meat and Poultry Supply Chain initiatives are encouraged to take advantage of the broad technical assistance offered through MPPTA. AMS has cooperative agreements with six organizations to form the MPPTA network, which has already provided valuable assistance to over 300 businesses and organizations across the U.S. and its territories since its launch earlier this year.
Categories: Indiana, Livestock