USDA Declares $40.5 Million in Grant Awards to Strengthen Processing and Promotion of Home Organic Products

Anaheim, Calif., March 14, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Carrier (AMS) today awarded roughly $40.5 million for 60 grant initiatives thru the Organic Market Pattern Grant program. These initiatives will give a boost to the advance of fresh and existing natural markets, give a boost to the infrastructure to enhance processing capability, come all the tactic thru emerging technologies to promote natural merchandise, and buy equipment to abet meet the increasing demand for natural commodities. USDA anticipates the initiatives funded thru this program will profit bigger than 27,000 producers and over 31.8 million shoppers by increasing natural market opportunities. USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Tiny and Beneath Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt made the announcement today at Pure Products Expo West in Anaheim, Calif.

“Farmers who determine to develop Organic often gain admission to fresh, more and greater markets,” stated Agriculture Deputy Secretary Torres Tiny. “At USDA, we are dedicated to making it simpler for farmers who invent that preference thru applications esteem the Organic Market Pattern Grant Program, which helps farmers and increases gain admission to to fresh, healthy meals. Today’s announcement is good one of the a plentiful quantity of techniques President Biden is investing in rural other folk and a more resilient meals system.”

“This round of awards thru the Organic Market Pattern Grant program will contend with serious wants within the nation’s growing natural industry – funding initiatives that further our targets of creating and expanding markets for producers,” stated Beneath Secretary Moffitt. “This device is a key component of USDA’s Organic Transition Initiative and will increase payment added agricultural opportunities for natural producers in rural The United States.”

In May perhaps simply 2023, USDA introduced a total of $75 million obtainable thru the Organic Market Pattern Grant program to increase the provision and demand for domestically produced natural agricultural merchandise and to contend with the want for further market paths. This 2nd round of Organic Market Pattern Grant awards for the market construction and promotion, simplified equipment-handiest, and processing capability growth project kinds is funded by the Commodity Credit Corporation. In January 2024, USDA introduced $9.75 million for the principle round of awards thru this program. USDA will invent the final award announcement for this program in the coming months.

Recipients of this funding include:

• Almar Orchards LLC in Flushing, Mich., a family-owned natural apple orchard, bought funding to buy and install a washing and sorting line that might enable the orchard to expand into the itsy-bitsy one/youngster meals market. This will most likely result in increased domestic sourcing and the orchard will assist as an aggregator for numerous growers in the dwelling. The increased capability will furthermore allow Almar to expand natural apple production onto 100 further acres.
• The Georgia Organic Peanut Association, Inc., in Camilla, Ga., is using grant funds in a partnership with Oliver Oil Company, a shrimp family-owned processor of icy-pressed culinary oil, to manufacture parallel processing equipment that might enable, for the principle time in the Southeast, the production of licensed natural peanut oil. In consequence of this project, one processing facility and one storage facility are expected to attain natural certification for the principle time, fostering a fresh local provide chain for licensed natural commodities.
• Enormous Sandy Organics, LLC in Enormous Sandy, Mont., bought a grant to increase processing capability for natural grains and pulse crops by acquiring evolved equipment to toughen product quality, minimize labor-intensive processes, and minimize production costs. The project will furthermore expand the natural market by promoting collaborative product construction and diversification.

A plump list of awarded initiatives is in the marketplace on the OMDG webpage.

AMS gave priority consideration to initiatives addressing explicit pinpointed market wants for natural grains and livestock feed, natural dairy, natural fibers, natural legumes and numerous rotational crops, and natural ingredients at the moment unavailable in natural originate.

This grant program is portion of the USDA Organic Transition Initiative, launched in topple 2022, which offers a sequence of applications and sources to abet existing natural farmers and those transitioning to natural production and processing. Diversified efforts below OTI include USDA’s Pure Assets Conservation Carrier conservation assistance for transitioning producers, including a fresh natural administration notice standard and plans to leverage partnerships to expand relationships within the natural group, and AMS’ Transition to Organic Partnership Program, which builds mentorship relationships between transitioning and existing natural farmers to provide technical assistance and wrap-round give a boost to. Additionally, USDA’s Anxiety Management Company provided drawl give a boost to for reduce insurance in 2023. Extra information about these initiatives and more might maybe maybe also be found at www.farmers.gov/natural-transition-initiative.

AMS helps U.S. meals and agricultural product market opportunities, whereas increasing client gain admission to to fresh, healthy meals thru utilized analysis, technical companies, and congressionally funded grants. These initiatives will give a boost to natural producers and further USDA’s targets to originate more and greater markets, develop a numerous and equitable meals system, and increase climate-good agricultural practices. To be taught more about AMS’s investments in enhancing and strengthening agricultural programs, refer to www.ams.usda.gov/grants.

USDA touches the lives of all American citizens day after day in so many sure techniques. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming The United States’s meals system with a greater give consideration to more resilient local and regional meals production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring gain admission to to protected, healthy, and nutritious meals in all communities, building fresh markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate good meals and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and natty vitality capabilities in rural The United States, and committing to equity all the tactic thru the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a team of workers more representative of The United States. To be taught more, refer to www.usda.gov.

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