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LINCOLN – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Acting State Director Joan Scheel announced today that USDA is awarding a nearly $1.2 million grant to a local independent meat processor in Nebraska that will increase processing capacity, spur competition to expand market opportunities in rural areas throughout the state.
“The economic climate for farmers and ranchers has long been growing in expectations; produce more to meet increasing demand while receiving fewer benefits,” Acting Nebraska State Director Joan Scheel said. “Investments through the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program help lower costs for family-owned producers, as well as for the local folks buying their products at the grocery store. USDA is committed to increasing opportunities like this that benefit a greater rural America.”
The $1.2 million for today’s investment will help family-owned Dundy County Processors double their beef and pork processing capacity.
With a new facility and the ability to now operate under federal inspection, they will significantly increase their production of value-added products, create seven new jobs and work with an additional 100 local producers.
Today’s investment is part of a larger announcement made recently by U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack that marks the final investment in the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP), which was first launched in 2022.
Since the beginning of the program, USDA has provided 74 awards totaling more than $325 million through MPPEP to expand processing capacity and strengthen the food supply chain. The awards will benefit people living in Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York and Pennsylvania.
Many projects are still in development and have already increased the processing capacity at these facilities by more than 800,000 cattle, 14,000 hogs, 23 million chickens and 5 million turkeys annually. Additionally, these projects are serving almost 900 additional meat and poultry producers and have created more than 1,200 new jobs.
MPPEP is one of many actions that USDA is taking to expand processing capacity, create more revenue streams and market opportunities for producers, and improve the competitive landscape in food and agricultural markets.
USDA has led a whole-of-USDA approach and partaken in a wholeof- government initiative to improve the competitive landscape in food and agricultural markets.
Since 2020, USDA has invested over $1.4 billion to support new or expanded small-sized and medium-sized processing facilities and to create a more resilient, diverse and secure U.S. food supply chain. Additional information on all these programs is available at www.usda. gov/meat. In addition, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has been holding small plant roundtables to assist small businesses with federal regulations.
Between 2023 and 2024, 11 roundtables were held to provide an opportunity for communication and to help small plant owners and operations be successful.
USDA is also supporting greater transparency in markets, and in February 2024, finalized a new rule that only permits the voluntary “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” claim to be applied to those FSIS-regulated meat and poultry products that are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States, which better aligns with consumer understanding of what the label means.
In the last three and a half years, USDA has put forth a suite of critical new rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921.
