MT Premium Processing receives $250k MCap grant

Press release

Montana Premium Processing Cooperative will boost production capacity and invest in new equipment for value-added products thanks to $250,000 in Local Meat Capacity grant funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

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The member-owned, USDA-inspected Havre meat processing facility processes beef, bison, sheep, goats, and hogs. The MCap funds will be used to equip a value-added space at the facility, including a smoker, cooler, vacuum sealer, briner/injector, and machine to make sausages, as well as other equipment for the slaughter floor to handle the increase in animals processed.

Value-added products will benefit all members and increase the number of hogs the facility can process by roughly a dozen animals a week, MPPC’s General Manager Bill Jones said.

With the new equipment, co-op members will be able to order hams, bacon, meat sticks, hot dogs, brats, sausages, jerky and more, expanding their offerings to customers and improving profitability.

Although it will likely be at least a year before the value-added area is up and running, the co-op’s commitment to providing quality meat processing for local producers and consumers is evident from their continued pursuit of grant funding like the MCap program to help expand the facility and strengthen the local food supply chain.

“These are farmers and ranchers who bought into the co-op not knowing if it would do this or do that — before there was even a building — and now they’re continuing to put their vote behind it,” Jones said.

The funding is part of $20.2 million in awards announced this week by USDA to 26 projects through the Local Meat Capacity grant program to expand processing capacity within the meat and poultry industry.

According to the USDA, this final set of awards for simplified equipment and processing expansion covers projects in 21 states. Total, USDA has funded 97 projects for $55.8 million through Local MCap.

The news of MPPC’s award comes ahead of the co-op’s annual meeting Nov. 13, which kicks off with public tours and lunch at the facility at noon.

Following lunch, cooperative members will meet from 2-4 p.m. at the Best Western, when they will discuss general business as well as take nominations for two board seats currently held by Walter Schweitzer and Casey Buffington. Voting will close Dec. 2.

Learn more about MPPC at https://www.mtpremiumprocessing.com. 

For more information on Local MCap and to view a complete list of the awarded projects, including one to Glacier Processing Cooperative in Columbia Falls, visit the https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/localmcap .