NCBA Pleased to See Next Steps in Processing Capacity Funding

Feb 25, 2022

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the availability of up to $215 million in grants and resources as part of a continued effort to strengthen the meat and poultry processing sector and create a more resilient food supply chain. NCBA appreciates the Administration’s efforts to expand and diversify processing capacity and looks forward to working with USDA to ensure proper implementation of the funds.

“Investing in packing capacity is critically important for the cattle industry,” said NCBA Director of Government Affairs and Market Regulatory Policy Tanner Beymer. “The expansion of regional processing facilities will bolster resiliency within the beef supply chain and help return marketing leverage to cattle producers."

As part of previously announced federal investments totaling $1 billion, these funds will be allocated to three main areas: the newly created Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP), workforce development, and technical assistance.

Background:

USDA Rural Development will make $150 million available through the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP). Under this program, grants of up to $25 million will be available to offset costs of construction, expansion, and acquisition of equipment.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) will allocate $40 million dollars to existing workforce development programs to assist new and expanding processors with recruiting, training, and retraining adequate labor.

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Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

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