The Cattlemen’s Heritage Beef Company beef plant planned for Mills County received federal funding for its operation.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Thursday that USDA is making investments to increase independent meat and poultry processing capacity, expand market opportunities for farmers and support a growing workforce in rural areas.
The announcement comes on the heels of President Biden delivering a major address on “Bidenomics” —his vision for growing the economy from the middle out and bottom up by investing in America, increasing competition, and empowering workers.
Cattlemen’s Heritage is scheduled to break ground on a 1,500-head-per day, state-of-the-art beef processing facility north of Glenwood according to promotional material that goes back to early 2022 in a search for investors.
“While American farmers and ranchers have been responding to the demand to produce more, their communities have struggled to see their share of the benefits,” Vilsack said. “Under the leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is committed to championing meat and poultry processers, increasing competition and lowering costs for working families. The announcement I’m making today highlights these producers and reflects the goals of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which advances a sustainable vision of agriculture, prioritizes the needs of our producers and small businesses, promotes competition, strengthens our domestic agricultural supply chains and brings prosperity to people and places in rural parts of our country.”
USDA is providing 15 awards totaling $115 million in 17 states. USDA is providing five awards totaling $38 million through the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP) to help independent processors in five states. USDA is also providing 10 awards totaling $77 million under the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program (MPILP) in 12 states.
USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture is also providing seven awards totaling $4.5 million to community and technical colleges in seven states through the Meat and Poultry Processing–Agricultural Workforce Training (AWT) program. These investments will build a pipeline of well-trained meat processing workers and support safe workplaces with fair wages for workers.
Secretary Vilsack made today’s announcement during a roundtable with producers and businesses in Des Moines and highlighted efforts under the Biden-Harris Administration to build more, new and better markets and strengthen farm and food businesses. This visit comes as officials from the Biden-Harris Administration are spending the next two weeks in communities across the country to demonstrate how President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is delivering results and creating transformative new economic opportunities for families and businesses.