Dalton, PA – Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding toured MudPond Meats, a custom butcher in Dalton today to announce recipients of $676,140 in Very Small Meat and Poultry Processor Grants. The PA Farm Bill grants will help 12 small businesses in 11 counties by funding expansion, equipment purchases, food and worker safety improvements and other measures to boost small businesses' capacity to meet demand for local meat and poultry.
"Consumers increasingly want to buy local to keep dollars in their own communities," said Redding. "These grants not only help small farm businesses like MudPond Meats serve their customers, they shorten the supply chain, lowering transportation costs and energy use, increasing profit here at home, and making the food supply more reliable even in the midst of national disruptions like we saw during the pandemic. The Shapiro Administration is committed to increasing opportunities for small businesses to succeed and their communities to thrive."
MudPond Meats was awarded $77,547 grant through the program in 2022-23 to purchase equipment through program to help their custom butchering business expand.
"The PA Farm Bill grant changed our business by helping us achieve USDA certification," said MudPond Meats Owner Ben Rust. "At MudPond, we are proud to be a partner to our community, and we can now support more farmers and customers across the region through our expansion and certification. As people are looking to shop local for the holidays, they can shop with confidence that Pennsylvania has countless options to meet their needs. We are grateful for the ongoing support of the Department of Agriculture and Governor Shapiro to grow agriculture and infrastructure for our farmers."
Since 2019, Pennsylvania has supported the expansion of 47 small businesses, investing more than $2.5 million through Very Small Meat and Poultry Processor Grants. The grants are one of many ways increased agriculture funding in the bipartisan 2023-24 Shapiro Administration budget is building the workforce and infrastructure Pennsylvania's $132.5 billion agriculture industry needs to keep growing, feeding our economy, and supporting more than 593,000 jobs.
Following are the grant recipients, by county and amount received:
Adams
Latimore Valley Farms, $73,130
Rettland Farm, $38,207
Allegheny
Salem Market, $63,782
Cumberland
North Mountain Butcher Shop, $52,691
Lancaster
Gapview Homestead, $10,459
Lehigh
Slate Belt Butchery, $73,110
Luzerne
Joe's Smokehouse, $26,823
Monroe
Stryker Farm, $58,175
Northampton
Lehigh Valley Meats, $73,029
Susquehanna
John Stahl Waldron Meats, $73,130
Westmoreland
Weimer Meats, $73,130
York
Cabin Hollow Butcher Shop, $73,130
For past recipients of PA Farm Bill grants in your region, information on funding opportunities and more on investments in a thriving future for Pennsylvania agriculture, visit agriculture.pa.gov.
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