If you have followed the news since Donald Trump was inaugurated as President, then you are aware that federal grants have been frozen government-wide. The pauses to grants at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal programs have gotten the most news coverage, but the meat and poultry industry has been affected as well. Companies that were awarded grants in 2023-24 but not given their money are finding themselves in the middle of expansions and equipment purchases without a way to move forward.
Granite State Packing in Claremont, NH, was awarded $1.6 million from the USDA under the Local MCAP (Local Meat Capacity) Grant. The MCAP grants were created to support independently owned meat and poultry processing businesses with grant funds to provide more and better processing options for local livestock producers. Granite State Packing received the grant to add pork slaughter capacity to its current facility. Arion Thiboumery, director on the board at Granite State, says that the company started construction and ordered more than $600,000 worth of new equipment before it received a notice that grant funds were on hold until further notice.
“This is very painful for us, as we have many expenses coming at us and no grant funds,” Thiboumery says. The company is currently owed about $100,000 in reimbursements from the USDA and only has received about $150,000 in grant funds to date. “As you know it’s very hard to stop a project mid-stream. The lack of clarity on when the funds will come is causing a lot of anxiety and making us wonder what we can/should do,” he adds.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: American Association of Meat Processors
