USDA Announces First Round of Meat and Poultry Processing Grants

USDA announced the 21 grant projects that will receive $73 million through the first round of the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP). USDA also announced $75 million for eight projects through the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program, as well as more than $75 million for four meat and poultry-related projects through the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan program. MPPEP was designed to support capacity expansion projects in concert with other private and public finance tools. This announcement was for the first round of funding made available through Phase I of MPEPP. Additional announcements are expected in the coming weeks. USDA will also soon begin taking applications for a new phase to deploy an additional $225 million.