U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Dr. Basil Gooden today spoke at the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) Conference. He followed his remarks with a trip to visit the Greater Omaha Packing Company alongside Acting Nebraska State Director for Rural Development Joan Scheel to hear about the impact that recent Rural Development funding is having on ag producers in the area.
Greater Omaha Packing Company is a recipient of a $20 Million Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP) grant in 2022 through the USDA, when MPEPP was first launched.
“This project is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s $110 Million investment in our meat and poultry processing,” Scheel said. “These investment help strengthen our food supply chains, increase our competition, help lower food costs and are part of USDA’s efforts to create a more competitive agricultural system by expanding our independent meat processors’ capacities.”
The grant received by Greater Omaha Packing Company is being used to assist with a $100 million expansion. The MPPEP funds will upgrade the company’s freezers, expand wastewater system capacity, remodel key areas for value-added further processing, and to increase carcass holding coolers. These improvements will enable Greater Omaha to expand the company’s beef processing capacity by 700 head per day and support an additional 275 jobs.
MPPEP Investments Expand Capacity and Create Opportunities
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.
Many projects are still in development but have already increased the processing capacity at 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.
USDA Rural Development provides loans 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. Visit the Rural Data Gateway to learn how and where these investments are impacting rural America. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov.
Contact USDA Rural Development in Nebraska
Information on programs administered through USDA Rural Development in Nebraska is available by visiting www.rd.usda.gov/ne, contacting your local Rural Development office, or by following @RD_Nebraska on X.
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Rural Development offices in Nebraska: https://tinyurl.com/yc7pfytn.