International Food Solutions is receiving a grant to help redevelop and expand a vacant building in Cleveland into a plant with the capacity to process 60 million pounds of poultry.
Earlier this week, at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced several major developments at the U.S. Department of Agriculture that will benefit farmers, ranchers and producers across the nation, including a project in Ohio.
“At USDA, our goal is to provide all farmers, including new and underserved producers, with the opportunity to receive the assistance they need to continue farming, to build and maintain their competitive-edge, and to access more, new, and better markets,” said Vilsack during his address to Farm Bureau members. “Working together we can ensure American agriculture is as resilient as ever and will do so by implementing a holistic approach to emergency assistance, by lowering input costs through investments in domestic fertilizer production, and by promoting competition in agricultural markets.”
As part of the announcement, Vilsack revealed the details of International Food Solutions receiving a $9,575,250 grant to help redevelop and expand a vacant building in Cleveland into a plant with the capacity to process 60 million pounds of poultry. The expansion will include cold and dry storage and two processing lines, generating 227 jobs. International Food Solutions has produced thousands of prepared meals for K-12 students receiving free and reduced-price school meals.
“This week’s announcement is good news for consumers, producers, and the City of Cleveland,” said Jonathan McCracken, state director for USDA’s Ohio Rural Development agency. “This grant will create new jobs in Cleveland, increase domestic poultry processing, and allow International Food Solutions to expand its role in the National School Lunch Program.”
In all, USDA is investing more than $12 million to expand independent meat and poultry processing capacity in Ohio, Michigan and Minnesota. Vilsack announced that Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program grants will help fund the projects.
“Over the past three years we have seen just how important a robust meat and poultry processing infrastructure within Ohio is for our food system,” said Ohio Farm Bureau Executive Vice President Adam Sharp. “These efforts, along with additional grants at the state level, will allow small and medium-sized processing facilities to modernize and expand, benefiting area farmers, consumers and the local economy.”
For Ohio shoppers, the Thanksgiving dinner receipt will be slightly lower than the national average for the same market basket items at $59.24.
Read More
How Farm Bureau and partners went to work to get producers the answers they needed in regard to the health, safety and welfare of their animals, their crops, their farms and their families.
Read More
As the event wrapped up, ODOT representatives expressed an interest in having Ohio Farm Bureau at the table when future projects are considered.
Read More
Under HB 397, notice must be given by Sept. 1 to terminate a farm lease, and the lease will terminate at the conclusion of harvest or Dec. 31, whichever comes first.
Read More
Thanks to the work of Ohio Farm Bureau members through the organization’s Action Alert process, the budget will avert the potential negative impacts of a proposed property tax policy change.
Read More
Ohio Farm Bureau supports Issue 1. This FAQ answers questions about what this initiative means to agriculture.
Read More
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the EPA went too far with its enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
Read More
As a result of the Federal Milk Marketing Forum, delegates at the 2023 American Farm Bureau Annual Convention adopted policies to guide the organization’s work on the dairy pricing front.
Read More
On this Ohio Farm Bureau Podcast, hear from Ohio Farm Bureau members who took part in the American Farm Bureau Federal Milk Marketing Order Forum, which resulted in some positive conversations and new policy for dairy pricing moving forward.
Read More
Included in HB 1 is the elimination of the 10% property tax rollback, which is a significant concern for Farm Bureau members.
Read More
