Local Meat Capacity Grant

This program supports independently owned meat and poultry processing businesses with funds to provide more and better processing options for local livestock producers by modernizing, increasing, diversifying and decentralizing meat and poultry processing capacity, including support for rendering.

Awards support a wide range of activities to increase and diversify processing capacity, including equipment purchases and building and facilities upgrades. A non-Federal match of 50% of the total proposed project cost (with a reduced match for underserved producers and business owners) is required for the Processing Expansion Projects.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants include business entities (regardless of legal structure) engaged in meat and poultry processing, including rendering animal carcasses or byproducts. Eligible entities include Tribes and Tribal Entities, for-profit entities, non-profit entities, and State or local government entities. Private entities must be independently owned and operated, and all applicants must be domestically owned.

Eligible entities must be existing operations and must process or plan to process one or more species subject to the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) or the Poultry Product Inspection Act (PPIA) and possess or plan to obtain a Federal Grant of Inspection or a State meat and poultry inspection program. Plants processing non-amenable species under voluntary FSIS or State inspection are also eligible. Applicants that are nationally dominant in beef, pork, chicken, or turkey processing are ineligible.

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