USDA announces major investment in meat and poultry processing

USDA announced it is awarding $35 million in grant funding to boost U.S. meat and poultry processing operations. The grants will support 15 processors in 12 states. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says those projects will help farmers and ranchers better compete in the marketplace, increasing local food options and lowering grocery costs.

“Since day one, the Biden-Harris administration and USDA have been committed to advancing a sustainable vision of agriculture that prioritizes the needs of hardworking producers and small businesses while keeping rural communities strong, lowering costs for working families as well,” Vilsack says. “The key to this effort is ongoing work at USDA to expand competition in the food and agriculture sector, and accordingly, bolster independent meat processing capacity, providing better markets for our producers.”

According to Vilsack, the pandemic exposed bottlenecks in the food and agriculture supply chain threatening consumers with higher costs and reducing access to key products. He says it also created challenges for producers due to collapsed markets and “unfair” prices.

Meanwhile, according to Vilsack, concentrated markets have been a longstanding concern in key sectors such as meat and poultry. These factors prompted President Biden to issue an executive order to improve competition in the food and agriculture market.