The U.S. Department of Agriculture extended the deadline to May 11 to apply for Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program funding, as reported in a March 25 news release put out by the Rural Development Office.
The extension was issued in response to complaints from applicants pertaining to System for Award Management registration, which had to be completed before filing an application for the program.
“Strengthening our food supply chain is a top priority of the Biden-Harris Administration," Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said. "The new deadline should ensure that all interested and eligible meat and poultry processors have ample time to complete their applications.”
The release reported $150 million of American Rescue Plan Act will be made available through the meat and poultry processing program. The USDA is giving out as much as $25 million at a time to operations in an attempt to help them grow.
In the news release, the USDA drew attention to its encouragement of applications from smaller operations, in addition to novel or rare ones. Furthermore, Tribes and tribal producers, socially disadvantaged producers, military veteran producers and underserved communities are also especially encouraged to apply.
