The USDA awarded the final grants of $35 million to 15 processors across 12 states to commence or expand operations. This program, initiated in November 2022, aimed to enhance independent meat and poultry processing capacities across the United States.

Recipients include:

  • America’s Heartland Packing in St. Louis, Missouri to begin operations next year, will process up to 624,000 head of beef annually.
  • Rocky Mountain Prime LLC in Idaho to buy “value-added, source-verified livestock” and process up to 100 head of beef and 500 sheep per day.
  • Damian’s Craft Meats in southeastern Michigan to offer fee-for-service processing to local livestock producers.
  • Natural State Processing in Arkansas to process chicken, turkeys and ducks.
  • Palindromes in Missouri to increase poultry processing volume in the region by 570,000 birds annually.
  • Old Salt Meat Co., a cooperative processor in Montana to establish a USDA-inspected facility and expand fabrication space as well as cold storage.

This concludes the USDA Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP), established under the American Rescue Plan. In total, over $325 million was awarded to 74 facilities.

Read more about the USDA Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program here.