Grant Funding for Small Meat Processors

The Flowery Hill Institute is now in partnership with USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, where their joint effort involves overseeing a network of organizations brought together by USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. The initiative's main goal is to offer technical assistance for the expansion of meat and poultry processing. Regional Manager, Dave Carter provides an in-depth look into this joint initiative.

“You know, when you think back away to COVID. And what happened and we saw how resilient the current meat processing system can be, was that the administration made this billion-dollar commitment to try and help smaller and more diverse processors get going. But Secretary Vilsack realized that if you were just going to throw grants out for people to build processing plants that wasn't going to work, that what we really needed to have was a network of organizations that can work with these processors all the way through there, help them find grants, help them apply for grants, help them design their facilities, and it's a really robust network. It includes the Niche Meat Processing Assistance Network and the American Association of Meat Processors, American Meat Science,

but also the intertribal agriculture Council in Tuskegee University.”

With USDA funding secured until 2026. This project is dedicated to connecting applicants with high-quality technical assistance and a range of resources according to Carter.