During 2022 USDA assigned $223 million in grants and loans to small-scale meat and poultry processors. This amount was subsequently supplemented with an additional $73 million as 21 grants in 19 states forming the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program. On January 5th 2023 the USDA announced an additional $9.6 million to “strengthen the nations meat supply”. In announcing the new tranche, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack stated, “We are putting the needs of farmers, ranchers and consumers at the forefront in the Administration’s work to strengthen the resiliency of America’s food supply chain while promoting competition”.
The current program of funding will be spread among 25 independent businesses with two companies each receiving $5.7 million under the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program. Bottomland Prime LLC will receive $5 million to acquire and expand a meat processing and retail facility in Amarillo TX. Other grants in the $50,000 range will be used to acquire equipment and provide working capital for expansion.
The current Administration and the Secretary of Agriculture appear committed to restructuring meat production, ignoring the realities of scale of operation and the resources required to maintain a constant food supply for the Nation and export. The ‘Big-4” red meat producers and the “Top-10” broiler integrators operate large and efficient packing plants that can apply technology, capital intensive installations and logistics to deliver meat to consumers at an affordable price unmatched by small competitors supplying only local markets.