LITTLE ROCK, AR – The Arkansas Department of Agriculture has received $5 million in CARES Act funding for a Meat and Poultry Processing Grant Program.
The program was created to support new and existing meat and poultry processing facilities with less than 200 employees, address supply chain disruptions, and mitigate health and environmental impacts as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The program proposal was reviewed and approved earlier this week by the CARES Act Steering Committee and the House and Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Economic Development. The appropriation for the program was subsequently approved by the Arkansas Legislative Council.
Project proposals should aim to improve food supply resilience through increasing livestock and poultry slaughter, expanding meat or poultry processing capacity, or promoting worker safety as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Grant awards may reimburse up to 90 percent of eligible expenses for workforce assistance, equipment, capital improvements, and other eligible costs incurred from March 1, 2020 through November 30, 2020. Applications must be received no later than September 30, 2020. Program guidelines and the application can be found here.
Arkansas ranks 10th in the nation in the value of animals and animal products that provide more than $5.6 billion to the state’s economy annually. In the 2019 production year, Arkansas was ranked 10th in the nation in beef cow inventory and 25th in the nation in cattle and calves with 510,641,000 pounds of production.
