Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Rural Development (RD) Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS or Agency), requests applications for the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP). MPPEP is authorized under Section 1001(b)(4) of the American Rescue Plan Act, which provides funding for “loans and grants and other assistance to maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency.” Pursuant to this authority, USDA is making grant funding available to meat and poultry processors for start-up and expansion. This will promote competition and give more and better options to producers by increasing meat and poultry processing capacity. Separately, USDA is using the same authority to increase available capital through loan guarantees and intermediary relending. The grants in MPPEP can finance no more than $25M or 20% of the project costs and requires the grantee to demonstrate committed project financing. USDA is also making available funding for technical assistance through providers who are experts in the fields of meat and poultry processing, and business planning. Information on technical assistance providers will be included, as available, on the MPPEP website. Applicants that are nationally dominant in beef, pork, chicken, or turkey processing are ineligible; for the purpose of this RFA, nationally dominant is characterized as holding a market share greater than or equal to the entity that holds the fourth largest share of the market for any of the listed species.