The Department of Agriculture is making at least 5 billion dollars available in loans through the Strengthening Processing for U.S. Ranchers, or SPUR, Guaranteed Loan Program, to expand, improve and diversify the processing capacity of American meat, poultry and seafood, the department announced on October 23 alongside the launch of the America First Seafood Strategy. Under the program, USDA provides a 90 percent loan guarantee to participating commercial lenders, with eligible borrowers able to receive loans of up to 175 million dollars and financing that may include deferral of principal and interest payments for up to two years.
The program is aimed at small and regional beef processors in the first instance. Earlier this year the president signed Executive Order 14424, on fair competition in livestock markets and market access for meat producers, directing USDA to establish the program so smaller processors can continue operations, expand their footprint and increase the diversity of animal proteins being processed. Eligible lenders include federally and state chartered banks, savings and loan associations, farm credit banks with direct lending authority and credit unions, and eligible borrowers include businesses, nonprofits, cooperatives, tribes and state and local government bodies, provided facilities are located and operated in the United States and run under federal or equivalent state inspection.
“From our crabbers in Alaska, to the lobstermen in Maine, to the great shrimpers in the Gulf of America, our nation is blessed with incredible men and women who work to bring this bounty to our plates,” Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said. The loans can fund facilities, equipment, capacity expansion and modernization. Whether 5 billion dollars of guarantee capacity translates into built plants depends on lender take up and on permitting, which the seafood strategy says federal agencies will work to streamline for shipyards, docks, cold storage, processing plants and working waterfronts.