The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food is currently accepting applications to provide grants to small meat, poultry, and fruit and vegetable processors to make immediate impacts to processing capacity.
Donor Name: Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF)
State: Utah
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/31/2023
Size of the Grant: $200,000
Details:
The purpose is to provide grants to small to medium-sized agricultural producers (100 employees or less) in Utah to help them increase their ability to process local meat, poultry, and fruit and vegetable products and increase the state’s food security.
The first year of the program was a great success and they are happy to report that $1,000,000 of additional funding was appropriated during the 2023 General Session as well. Similar to last year, UDAF is again seeking applicants who plan to increase their processing capacity to meet current demand, protect the security of the food supply, and help ensure Utah produced food is processed in-state. The program will reimburse processors a portion of expenses to expand existing facilities. Grant amounts will be dependent on the total amount of eligible applications received and approved.
Funding Information
Grants will be capped at $200,000 in an effort to increase processing of local food statewide as much as possible.
Eligible expenses may include, but are not limited to:
- Coolers/freezers
- Contractor costs (plumbing, draining, venting, electrical work)
- Portion cutters
- Processing equipment (smoking units, sausage stuffers, etc.)
- Slaughter equipment (cradles, saws, hooks, scalders, sinks, etc.)
- Equipment or facilities to hold livestock (fences, gates, chutes, etc.)
- Electronic sorting equipment (e.g. grading and sizing for apples, cherries, or peaches)
- Bottling equipment for juices
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must be processors located in Utah with fewer than 100 employees who are planning expanding a facility that meets one of the following criteria:
- State-inspected “equal to” slaughter and/or processing plant,
- Licensed custom-exempt slaughter plant,
- Talmadge-Aiken (TA) or very small federally inspected plant, or,
- Fruit or vegetable processor that use fruits and vegetables that are grown, processed, and sold in Utah.
For more information, visit UDAF.
