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The Biden administration announced Thursday that it will provide an additional $9.6 million in grants and loans to expand meat processing across the country as it seeks to diversify the industry, long dominated by four companies.
Efforts to grow meat processing capacity came after workers at large meatpacking plants contracted COVID-19, which slammed meat production for much of 2020 and drove up food prices.
The projects, funded by the USDA, include a $44,000 grant to a farm in Virginia to help process grass-fed chicken, beef, and hogs for direct sale to consumers, and a meat processor in Amarillo, Texas, with a $4.95 million loan that will create a new processing facility and expand retail offerings for a local producer.
| U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said in a press conference that the programs aim to create “additional market opportunities that will hopefully create more income for farmers, more choice for consumers, and more jobs in rural areas.” |
According to Reuters, the USDA has approved the following grants since 2021:
- $54.6 million to 278 meat producers via the Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grant Program
- $73.14 million to 21 companies through the agency’s Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program, funded through the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act.
These subsidies stem from the concerns of the Biden administration once it was
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