Tester secures nearly $1.4 Million to expand meat processing in montana

Press release

As part of his continued effort support Montana small businesses and agricultural producers, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont, secured $1,399,985 for Old Salt Meat Company to finance meat processing in the state.

Old Salt Meat Company is a cooperatively owned livestock processor focused on driving value and return to producers while helping consumers access to locally raised beef. The funding will be used to establish a USDA-inspected slaughter facility, scale up their fabrication space under USDA inspection, and expand their cold storage capacity.

“Montana makes beef and beef makes Montana, and I’ll always work to ensure our state’s producers can process that beef right here in our own backyard,” Tester said. “I’m proud to have secured this funding to expand operations at Montana’s own Old Salt Meat Company, and I look forward to seeing this funding strengthen our supply chains, bolster the local economy, and create good-paying jobs in the process.”

The funding comes from the final investment in the Meat Poultry Processing Expansion Program which was established and funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. Tester, who is running for re-election and faces Republican Tim Sheehy in the November election, was the only member of the Montana delegation that supported the American Rescue Plan.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Sept. 19 that USDA is awarding more than $35 million in grants to 15 independent meat processors in 12 states to increase processing capacity, spur competition to expand market opportunities for U.S. farmers and create jobs in rural areas. This marks the final investment in the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program , which was first launched in 2022.

USDA said he investments announced Sept. 19 also advance President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda and support the Administration’s Action Plan for a Fairer, More Competitive, and More Resilient Meat and Poultry Supply Chain, which dedicates resources to expand independent processing capacity.

“For the past four years, the Biden-Harris Administration has advanced a sustainable vision of agriculture that prioritizes the needs of the hardworking producers and small business owners who keep rural communities strong,” Vilsack said. “Through investments like these, USDA is working to give farmers and ranchers a fair chance to compete in the marketplace, which will increase local food options and lower grocery costs for American families.”

Since the beginning of the program, USDA has provided 74 awards totaling more than $325 million through MPPEP to expand processing capacity and strengthen the food supply chain.

Many projects are still in development and have already increased the processing capacity at these facilities by more than 800,000 cattle, 14,000 hogs, 23 million chickens and 5 million turkeys annually. Additionally these projects are serving almost 900 additional meat and poultry producers and have created more than 1,200 new jobs.

Details on all of the awards announced is available online at https://www.rd.usda.gov/media/file/download/usda-rd-chart-mppep-awards-09192024.pdf.

Tester has led the charge to expand meat processing capacity in Montana, including securing  $291,900 from MPPEP for the Montana Premium Processing Cooperative in Havre. Last year, Tester secured more than $1 million to help seven Montana meat processors expand their operations and processing capacities, grow their customer bases, and assist with production, operational, and marketing costs. Tester also secured $7.8 million for 30 Montana agriculture small businesses, which included funding for three new USDA-certified meat processing facilities.

Tester also secured $2 million from the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program for the Great Falls Development Authority Inc. in 2022. The funding, provided through ARPA, will go toward expanding GFDA’s relending work, providing support for both existing meat and poultry processing operations in the Great Falls region that are looking to grow as well as entrepreneurs looking to start new operations.

Delivering on Fair, Competitive,

and Transparent Markets

MPPEP is one of many actions that USDA is taking to expand processing capacity, create more revenue streams and market opportunities for producers, and improve the competitive landscape in food and agricultural markets. Under President Biden’s historic Executive Order on Promoting Competition in America’s Economy and as set out in our competition report, USDA has led a whole-of-USDA approach and partaken in a whole-of-government initiative to improve the competitive landscape in food and agricultural markets.

Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA has invested over $1.4 billion to support new or expanded small-sized and medium-sized processing facilities and to create a more resilient, diverse and secure U.S. food supply chain. Additional information on all these programs is available at https://www.usda.gov/meat . In addition, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has been holding small plant roundtables to assist small businesses with federal regulations. Between 2023 and 2024, 11 roundtables were held to provide an opportunity for communication and to help small plant owners and operations be successful.

USDA is also supporting greater transparency in markets, and in February 2024, finalized a new rule that only permits the voluntary “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” claim to be applied to those FSIS-regulated meat and poultry products that are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States, which better aligns with consumer understanding of what the label means.

In the last three and a half years, USDA has put forth a suite of critical new rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 to promote transparency in contracting and tournaments; address unfairness and deception in broiler grower payments; poultry grower ranking systems and capital improvement systems; prohibit discrimination, retaliation, and deception in a range of circumstances; and provide better clarity around unfair practices and competitive injury. With two final rules, two more proposed rules and more on the way, USDA is reinvigorating the century-old fair and competitive market laws to empower producers and growers.

USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal and high-poverty areas. Visit the Rural Data Gateway at https://www.rd.usda.gov/rural-data-gateway to learn how and where these investments are impacting rural America. To learn more, visit https://www.usda.gov.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, promoting competition and fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit http://www.usda.gov .