BISMARCK, N.D., June 29, 2023 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director Erin Oban announced today that USDA is making investments to expand market opportunities for farmers and support a growing workforce in rural areas.
“USDA Rural Development’s role in ensuring that rural states like North Dakota have access to the capital necessary to expand local meat processing capacity helps our small businesses, producers, consumers, and rural communities,” said Oban. “With today’s announcement of another three entities serving North Dakota being awarded funds through the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program, our state and those in the meat and poultry processing industry will be able to benefit for years to come.”
USDA is providing five awards totaling $38 million through the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP) to help independent processors in five states and 10 awards totaling $77 million under the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program (MPILP) in 12 states. Today's announcement will support projects in Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
In North Dakota:
- Oyate Community Development Program will use a $15,000,000 grant to capitalize a revolving loan fund that will help support the meat and poultry industry within the eight districts that make up the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The revolving loan fund is expected to have a large impact and improve the economic conditions. The Oyate Community Development Corporation staff have extensive experience in agricultural and business lending.
- The Rural Development Finance Corporation will use a $10,000,000 grant to capitalize a revolving loan fund. The revolving loan fund will provide low-interest financing to meat and poultry processors by increasing access to low-interest financing to expand their meat processing capacity. This will help to increase the availability of local meats for consumers and to keep it affordable and competitive with outs
- Farmers Union Foundation, a charitable organization that provides resources for rural economic development, will use an $800,000 MPILP award to lend funds to independent small and medium sized meat processors in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Background
President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda
President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is growing the American economy from the bottom up and middle-out – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to making our economy more diversified and resilient, to driving over $470 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States, to creating good paying jobs and building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.
Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA Rural Development provides loans, loan guarantees and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal and high-poverty areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
To subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit the GovDelivery subscriber page