$40 Million in Grants for Ag-Equity Efforts
Orchards, Olive Oil, Natural Grains Among 60 Project Shoots
Processing and Research $$$ for Local Farms in Michigan, Georgia, Montana . . .
More Options at Local Grocers for Tens of Millions of Buggy-Pushers!!!
- Courtesy screenshot: USDA
By JOSH MITCHELL
Editor
River Mississippi News
ANAHEIM, CALIF. — Organic farmers and ranchers just got a big shot at an emerging future with Thursday’s USDA announcement of over $40 million in public grants available to dozens of agricultural equity projects in the United States.
The money will bolster 60 organic farming projects by providing much-needed capital for more efficient processing, enhanced research and more reliable equipment. The overall goal is to increase the amount of organic farming products consumers can purchase in retail stores.
The $40 million in grants are divided between various projects with the USDA press release highlighting ones in Michigan, Georgia and Montana, which produce apples, culinary oils and grains, in that respective order.
These grant funds will go a long way toward reaching a substantial number of U.S. consumers and producers of these organic commodities, officials said.
According to a USDA news release, the agency estimates that at least 27,000 producers and over 30 million U.S. shoppers will be exposed to these wider food options offered in homegrown supermarkets and other stores.
The farm funds were announced this week by USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small and other agency officials at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, Calif.
“Farmers who choose to grow organic often access new, more and better markets,” said Agriculture Deputy Secretary Torres Small in a news release.
The organic food industry is described by USDA officials as a “growing industry” with critical resource shortfalls, which, they say, will hopefully be addressed in part by the $40 million organic farmer grant program announced this week.
The full award-recipient list can be seen via this USDA link.
