The Arkansas Department of Agriculture has received $5 million in federal CARES Act funding for its Meat & Poultry Processing Grant Program.
The program was created to support new and existing meat and poultry processing facilities with fewer than 200 employees; address supply chain disruptions; and mitigate the health and environmental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prospective grantees should aim to improve food supply resilience by increasing livestock and poultry slaughter, expanding meat or poultry processing capacity, or promoting worker safety.
Grant awards may reimburse up to 90% of eligible expenses for workforce assistance, equipment, capital improvements and other eligible costs incurred from March 1 through Nov. 30. Applications must be received no later than Sept. 30.
Companies can apply here.
“This cost share program will help address the lack of local, small-scale meat processing capacity in Arkansas that limited our producers’ ability to meet consumer demand for locally grown meat products during the COVID-19 related disruptions,” Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward said in a news release. “Expanded processing capacity will build resilience within the industry and provide benefit to producers, consumers, and our rural communities.”
Currently, there are only three local, small-scale USDA-inspected meat processing facilities and about 40 custom-exempt processors in Arkansas.
Sign up for Daily E-news
