USDA Announces $100 Million in Loan Guarantees to Support Food Supply Chains

To combat weaknesses in the food supply chain, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced $100 million in funding as part of the American Rescue Plan to be centered around loan guarantees to help expand meat and poultry processing capacity. While the loan guarantees are not solely available on the meat side, the initiative will help provide much-needed stability and support to address bottlenecks exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by issues such as the lack of cold storage and a lack of financing for needed expansion. The hope is that these announced loan guarantees will spur existing processors and attract potential new entrants through long-term financial support. View more analysis of this new program here.

To provide more details on how to participate in this new program, USDA will be hosting a webinar on October 14th. More details will be announced closer to the date.