USDA to Send $57 Million to Meat Processors in 40 States

The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to put $57 million into meat processing plants across the country.

Vice President J.D. Vance and Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins announced the plan October 26. The money would flow through the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program, which USDA Rural Development runs through its Rural Business-Cooperative Services. The program would issue 147 tentative awards totaling $57,424,130, covering processors in 40 states. The awards are pending a congressional allotment.

The grants go to independent processors that want to grow their capacity. USDA Rural Development says the program is meant to encourage competition and sustainable growth in the sector and to improve supply chain resiliency. Eligible applicants include for-profit and nonprofit entities, producer-owned cooperatives, certified benefit corporations, tribes and tribal entities, and state or local government entities. Private entities must be independently owned and operated, and all entities must be domestically owned.

Rollins said the spending follows a Trump executive order titled "Promising Fair Competition in Livestock Markets and Expanding Market Access for American Meat Producers." She also tied the awards to cattle herds. "We are focused on rebuilding the Great American Cattle Herd, and providing more local processing opportunities will continue to give confidence to our ranchers to help us fulfill this goal," Rollins said.

USDA has awarded more than $200 million to independent businesses under this program in the past. The agency says those projects have created thousands of jobs across the country.