USDA is working to build a Fairer, More Competitive, and More Resilient Meat and Poultry Supply Chain
White House Factsheet
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USDA investing $1B in expanding meat and poultry processing capacity
In July 2021, USDA issued a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit public input into its strategy to improve meat and poultry processing infrastructure and will hold targeted stakeholder meetings and other public engagement to better understand the needs, gaps, and barriers to fair and competitive meat processing markets.
USDA received nearly 450 comments in response to the Request for Information.
Highlighted Request for Information Comments (PDF, 199 KB)
All Comments
This funding will be delivered through a variety of programs.
- Open Programs
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Meat and Poultry Processing Technical Assistance
The Meat and Poultry Processing Technical Assistance (MPPTA) provides independent meat and poultry processors access to wide-range technical assistance to support their capacity expansion and supply chain development projects.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) invested nearly $25 million to establish cooperative agreements with seven organizations, forming a nationwide network of experts and expertise in federal grant application and management, business development and financial planning, meat and poultry processing technical and operational support, local and regional supply chain development, and more.
The Flower Hill Institute serves as the MPPTA Coordinator, connecting USDA stakeholders to valuable resources across this network of organizations. Interested parties are encouraged to reach out directly to the Flower Hill Institute to discuss their project needs. Participants of USDA’s meat and poultry supply chain programs are especially encouraged to utilize these free resources.
AMS has cooperative agreements with six non-profit organizations to serve as TA providers for the MPPTA program with the Flower Hill Institute serving as the overall Technical Assistance Coordinator. Interested parties are encouraged to reach out directly to the Flower Hill Institute to discuss their technical assistance needs.
Reduce Overtime and Holiday Inspection Costs for Small and Very Small Processing
In the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Congress provided the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) with $100 million to support small and very small establishments by reducing overtime and holiday inspection fees. As of June 2023, over 2,900 small and very small establishments have benefited from the program.
The unused ARPA funds for overtime and holiday inspection fees were rescinded as part of the debt ceiling agreement. FSIS will continue the program through the end of September 2023, and will keep stakeholders updated on the future of the program beyond this date.
- Pending Award Announcements
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Indigenous Animals Harvesting and Meat Processing Grant Program (IAG)
The IAG grant program is designed to support the priorities of Tribal Nations in meeting the needs of traditional harvesting methods and indigenous animals. This project intends to fund projects which invest in Tribal Nations’ supply chain resiliency, indigenous animals, restoring local indigenous food systems, and indigenous processing methods, and expanding local capacity for the harvesting, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, or distribution (communal or commercial) of meat, poultry, seafood, and other animals that provide culturally appropriate food and food security to tribal communities. The primary purpose of all projects must be to expand or enhance indigenous animals and meat processing capacity in Indian Country.
- Award Announcements
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Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program – Phase 2
The Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program—Phase 2 (MPPEP) is providing up to $123 million in grants to help eligible processors expand their processing capacity, which create new, better and more processing options for meat and poultry producers. USDA Rural Development designed the MPPEP to encourage competition and sustainable growth in the U.S. meat processing sector, and to help improve supply chain resiliency. Entities that engage or plan to engage in meat and poultry processing, including private, non-profit, tribal, cooperative, state or local government, among other entities. Applications will be accepted until November 22, 2023.
Local Meat Capacity Grant (Local MCap) Program
The Local MCap grant program is targeted to support meat and poultry processors with smaller-scale projects, with a goal to increase processing availability and variety for local and regional livestock producers. Local MCap complements the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Grants administered by Rural Development by providing a targeted program for smaller-scale projects using a streamlined application. Smaller-scale projects eligible for this program include equipment purchases and installation, facility and equipment upgrades, minor alterations and renovation, and capacity expansion. Smaller-scale projects eligible for this program include equipment purchases and installation, facility and equipment upgrades, minor alterations and renovation, and capacity expansion. Simplified Equipment Projects will support purchase of equipment between $10,000 and $250,000.
A list of the Local MCap awardees is available on the Local MCap Awarded Grants webpage.
Indigenous Animals Harvesting and Meat Processing Grant Program (IAG)
The IAG grant program is designed to support the priorities of Tribal Nations in meeting the needs of traditional harvesting methods and indigenous animals. This project intends to fund projects which invest in Tribal Nations’ supply chain resiliency, indigenous animals, restoring local indigenous food systems, and indigenous processing methods, and expanding local capacity for the harvesting, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, or distribution (communal or commercial) of meat, poultry, seafood, and other animals that provide culturally appropriate food and food security to tribal communities. The primary purpose of all projects must be to expand or enhance indigenous animals and meat processing capacity in Indian Country.
A list of the IAG awardees is available on the IAG Awarded Grants webpage (PDF, 182 KB).
Food Supply Chain (FSC) Guaranteed Loan Program
The FSC Guaranteed Loan Program used American Rescue Plan funding to guarantee more than $750 million in guaranteed loans. The program supported new investments in food infrastructure to increase capacity and create a more resilient, diverse, and secure U.S. food supply chain.
These funds were designed to back private lenders that finance independently owned food systems businesses, specifically for the start-up or expansion of activities in the middle of the food supply chain. Building a more distributed and resilient food system requires independent producers to have access to food aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storage, transportation, wholesaling, and distribution infrastructure that enables them to move their product throughout the supply chain.
This program is now closed and is no longer accepting applications.
A list of FSC GL awardees is available on the FSC GL Awarded Grants webpage (PDF, 591 KB).
Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program (MPILP)
The USDA RD Rural Business and Cooperative Service (RBCS) has awarded $167 million in grants to 15 eligible lenders in the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program (MPILP) to date. Awards established revolving loan funds to increase access to capital for processors who want to start or expand processing capacity for meat and poultry. Awards funded projects in 12 states and range from $2 million to $15 million. The objective of the MPILP was to strengthen the financing capacity for independent meat and poultry processors, and to create a more resilient, diverse, and secure U.S. food supply chain.
A list of MPILP awardees is available on the MPILP Awarded Grants webpage (PDF, 401 KB).
Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program – Phase 1
The USDA RD Rural Business and Cooperative Service (RBCS) has awarded $146 million in grants to 30 projects through the first phase of the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP). This program provides grants to help eligible processors expand their capacity. USDA Rural Development designed MPPEP to encourage competition and sustainable growth in the U.S. meat processing sector and to help improve supply chain resiliency.
Facility expansion and improvements funded through MPPEP will promote competition and give more and better options to producers by increasing meat and poultry processing capacity. The goal of MPPEP is to focus on projects in late stage of development to make the fastest impact on producers, consumer, and the meat and poultry supply chain. More information about the program can be found at the following link: Biden-Harris Administration Announces First Round of Historic Investments to Increase Competition and Expand Meat and Poultry Processing Capacity
A list of MPPEP awardees is available on the MPPEP Awarded Grants webpage (PDF, 243 KB). Additional information about the program is available on the MPPEP webpage.
Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grants – Round 2
The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) awarded an additional $21.9 million in grants to 111 grant projects through the Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grant Program (MPIRG), bringing total funding to $54.6 million. This second round of awards will fund projects in 37 states and will help strengthen and develop new market opportunities for meat and poultry processors throughout the United States.
Facility improvements and expansions funded through MPIRG will help processors obtain a Federal Grant of Inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), the Poultry Productions Inspection Act (PPIA), or to operate under a state’s Cooperative Interstate Shipment (CIS) program that will allow meat and poultry processors to ship products across state lines, develop new markets, increase capacity, and better meet consumer and producer demand along the supply chain.
A list of this year’s MPIRG awardees is available on the MPIRG Awarded Grants webpage. Additional information about the program is available on the MPIRG webpage.
MPIRG recipients and other eligible participants, especially small and underserved stakeholders, in USDA’s Meat and Poultry Supply Chain initiatives are encouraged to take advantage of the broad technical assistance offered through USDA’s Meat and Poultry Processing Capacity Technical Assistance Program (MPPTA). AMS has cooperative agreements with six organizations to form the MPPTA network, which has already provided valuable assistance to over 300 businesses and organizations across the U.S. and its territories since its launch this year in March.
For more information about this technical assistance and the organizations involved, and to initiate a request for assistance, visit AMS’s MPPTA Webpage.
Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grants – Round 1
In its first round of funding for the Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grants (MPIRG) Program, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) awarded $32 million in grants to 167 meat and poultry slaughter and processing facilities to support expanded capacity and efficiency.
With this grant funding, meat and poultry processing businesses can cover the costs for improvements such as expanding existing facilities, modernizing processing equipment, and meeting packaging, labeling, and food safety requirements needed to achieve a Federal Grant of Inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), the Poultry Productions Inspection Act (PPIA), or to operate under a state’s Cooperative Interstate Shipment (CIS) program. These changes will allow these facilities to serve more customers in more markets.
Meat and Poultry Workforce Development Program
USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is awarding specified universities grants of up to $15 million to support agricultural workforce training for historically underserved communities. This investment will develop or enhance existing meat and poultry programs through 1890 Land-grant Universities Centers of Excellence ($4M), 1994 Land-grant Colleges ($4M), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian ($2M), and Resident Instruction Grants Program for Institutions of Higher Education in Insular Areas ($1M). Hispanic-serving Institutions have a competitive process to access $4 million in grants. Additionally, an investment of $5 million is directed to and will be split equally between Extension Risk Management Education and Sustainable Agriculture Research Education programs. Further, an investment of $3 million was awarded to qualified community colleges to support meat and poultry processing workforce development programs. Work in these programs supports development of meat and poultry processing training and educational materials for place-based needs, particularly relevant to small- or medium-sized farmers and ranchers.
Meat and Poultry Processing Innovation
USDA invested an estimated $20 million in research and development to help independent business owners, entrepreneurs, producers, and other groups, such as cooperatives and worker associations, create new or expand existing processing capacity. This included 14 awards to small businesses to conduct Meat and Poultry Processing Research and Innovation and one award to the University of Arkansas to develop the Center for Scalable and Intelligent Automation in Poultry Processing. These investments are designed to improve and increase access to new and emerging innovative practices and technologies.
USDA strengthening the rules and enforcement to support farmers and ranchers
In 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in America’s Economy that directed USDA and other agencies to robustly police U.S. markets, including in agriculture, where “consolidation... is making it hard for small family farms to survive.”
- A Plan In Support of Fair and Competitive Markets
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USDA has published the report, “Agricultural Competition: A Plan In Support Of Fair And Competitive Markets” that sets out USDA’s strategies to increase competition through investing in new competitors to address major bottlenecks in the food and agricultural supply chains, in particular meat and poultry processing and domestic fertilizer capacity. It also highlights USDA’s comprehensive efforts to reinvigorate competition and fair market regulation and oversight, and USDA’s efforts to enhance value-added competitive opportunities for producers, including the already-announced top-to-bottom review of the “Product of USA” label for beef and a newly announced review of animal-raising claims, among many other strategies and efforts.
- Partners in Fair and Competitive Markets
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USDA takes seriously our obligations to work closely with our partners at the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and other White House Competition Council member agencies, to fully utilize laws and regulations already on the books, and to bring bad actors to account.
USDA-DOJ have developed a portal called Farmer Fairness where you can file a complaint or tip if you suspect a violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act or any other Federal law governing fair and competitive marketing and contract growing of livestock and poultry.
- A Modern Set of Packers and Stockyards Rules
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USDA is rolling out a suite of new rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act to address poultry contracting and tournaments, unfair practices and undue preferences, and the harm to competition burdens from the courts. Two have been completed.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service published the final rule for Transparency in Poultry Grower Contracting and Tournaments Nov. 28, 2023. The rule, which requires Live Poultry Dealers – typically large processing companies – to give key information about terms of their agreements to the poultry growers with whom they contract to raise birds, is effective Feb. 12, 2024.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service published the Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity Under the Packers and Stockyards Act final rule March 7, 2024. The final rule is effective May 6, 2024. The rule establishes clearer, more effective standards under the Packers and Stockyards (P&S) Act for prohibited practices relating to discrimination, retaliation and deception in contracting. This rule will help producers and growers who have suffered from increasingly consolidated markets over the last 30 years by enhancing market integrity and ensuring fair access to economic opportunities.
The Agricultural Marketing Service published the Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems Proposed Rule June 10, 2024. The purpose of this proposed rule is to increase transparency and address unfairness and deception in broiler grower payments, poultry grower ranking systems (commonly known as tournaments), and capital improvement systems. The operation of tournament systems and the associated contracts between broiler chicken growers and live poultry dealers (LPDs) commonly exhibit a range of problematic practices. This proposed rule addresses these issues to improve tournaments and increase fairness of broiler contracts. Stakeholders and other interested parties have 60 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register to submit comments via the Regulations.gov web portal. All comments submitted will be considered as USDA develops a final rule.
The Agricultural Marketing Service published the Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets Proposed Rule in the Federal Register on June 28, 2024. The purpose of this proposed rule is to would provide clarity regarding the interpretation of “unfair” under section 202(a) of the P&S Act for the USDA, courts, and private parties to further the understanding of what conduct the P&S Act prohibits. This proposed rule, if finalized, would provide a workable guideline on how the prohibitions on unfair practices will operate and be enforced. AMS would use the guideline to fulfill its statutory obligation to ensure fair and competitive national livestock and poultry markets and ensure livestock producers and poultry growers receive the full value for their products and services. Fairer, more competitive markets enable greater choice, quality, and fairer prices in the meat and poultry processing markets, delivering benefits for working family consumers of meat and poultry. Stakeholders and other interested parties have 60 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register to submit comments via the Regulations.gov web portal. All comments submitted will be considered as USDA develops a final rule.
Even while the new rules are being crafted, USDA is committed to the enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act to the maximum extent possible under current conditions. In August 2021, USDA announced a new enforcement policy that represents a significant pivot from the 2020 undue preferences rule and highlights how we intend to enforce the Packers and Stockyard Act to the maximum extent possible even while the new rules are being completed.
- Product of USA/Consumer Transparency
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USDA is already hard at work clarifying the “Product of USA” label for beef. As USDA noted in its announcement, American consumers depend upon accurate, transparent labels to obtain important information about the food they consume. American farmers and ranchers depend upon those same labels to convey information about their products that consumers value and demand. USDA is working to conduct consumer testing and economic analysis to support a rulemaking on the voluntary “Product of USA” label.
- Price Transparency and Fairness in Livestock Trading
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USDA remains committed to enhancing the transparency, price discovery function, and the fairness of the livestock markets through its Market News service.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service launched a Cattle Contracts Library Pilot Program to increase market transparency for cattle producers. On Dec. 7, 2022, AMS published the final rule to secure the contract information needed to populate the library. The final rule, which requires packers who slaughtered an average of not less than five percent of the number of fed cattle slaughtered nationally during the immediately preceding five calendar years to submit contractual information for the purchase of cattle, went into effect on Jan. 6, 2023, and the library was made available to the public on Jan. 31, 2023.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service launched the Livestock Auction Dashboard in July 2023, providing users the ability to view and access livestock auction market information for cattle, sheep and goats in a manner that is simple to use and understand.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service developed the free USDA Market News Mobile Application (app), which provides agricultural producers and others in the supply chain with instant access to current market information. The app is available in both iOS and Android versions.
More research is underway to evaluate whether additional forms of transparency may further enhance market functioning.