Farming organizations awarded funding to support food chain resiliency

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced it has partnered with the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) to award $6,714,042 million for 17 projects through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI).

These grants will build resilience across the middle of the supply chain while strengthening local and regional food systems.
“Indiana farmers work hard to produce millions of pounds of fruits, vegetables and other pantry staples each year that are eventually shipped across state lines or do not even make it to market,” Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith, Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development said. “This grant funding will ensure more Hoosiers are fed by Hoosiers and that these organizations can better serve their communities.”

The funded projects include:

• J.L. Hawkins Farm, (Wabash County) will utilize Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure grant funds to overcome inadequate aggregation/co-packing, storage, and distribution facilities by constructing an on-farm building and to overcome inadequate post-harvest processing facilities by upgrading a current open-air post-harvest processing area.

• Crystal Lake, LLC, (Kosciusko County) will use the funds for the installation of new equipment that will allow Crystal Lake to produce extended shelf-life egg products and additional hard cook packaging at their plant located in Kosciusko County. Rather than relying on co-packers located in other states, this project will create a local co-packer and pasteurizer option for Crystal Lake and other local egg producers.

• Mills Family Farms Pasture Raised Meats LLC, (Cass County) plans to utilize grant funds to build a grain milling facility, including cold storage and packaging capabilities, for specialty-milled grain flours, gluten-free flours, and stone-milled corn products. 

“These seventeen organizations already do so much for their communities, and we are grateful that alongside USDA we could support them even further,” said Don Lamb, Indiana State Department of Agriculture director. “This funding will ensure food grown in local communities stays in local communities and this will allow our Hoosier farmers to increase their capacity and continue to build their businesses.”
This awarded funding is part of the $420 million available through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Grant program to build capacity within the middle of the supply chain and support local and regional producers. It is funded by USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Through this program, AMS has entered into cooperative agreements with state agencies, commissions, or departments responsible for agriculture, commercial food processing, seafood, or food system and distribution activities or commerce activities in states or U.S. territories.