Meat

Workers at Dakota Butcher in Clark process beef on Aug. 15, 2023. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Making meat local: $32 million flows to South Dakota processors since ’21

BY: - September 29, 2023

CLARK — Drive any direction in South Dakota, and it won’t take long to find cattle. The same can’t always be said for South Dakota-raised beef products, but that’s changing. After the COVID-19 pandemic exposed problems with large meatpacking monopolies, entrepreneurs are capitalizing on government grants to put more local links in South Dakota’s meat […]

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack speaks during a roundtable at Landus Cooperative’s headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 29, 2023. (Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

SD receives share of millions to help small meat processors

BY: and - July 3, 2023

A new round of federal grants to help smaller meat and poultry processors fight industry consolidation includes $15 million for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and $834,000 for a five-state region including South Dakota. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide $115 million in total grants, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced recently. Vilsack held a […]

Butchers at Old Fashion Country Butcher process meat as they work to meet increased demand due to COVID-19 related shortages on May 21, 2020, in Santa Paula, California. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images)

USDA aims to boost independent meat packers with $59 million in grants

BY: - February 21, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture beefed up its efforts to encourage competition in domestic meat and poultry supply chains on Tuesday, awarding close to $59 million in federal grants to independent processors from Idaho, Virginia, South Carolina, South Dakota and Maryland. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the funding awards during a trip to […]