ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture are giving over $3.2 million to food infrastructure projects in southeastern Minnesota.
“Projects funded through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program are building strength and resilience in Minnesota’s food system, diversifying agricultural markets, creating new revenue streams for small and mid-sized producers, and providing economic opportunities for local communities,” says USDA Marketing and Regulatory Programs Under Secretary Jenny Lester Moffitt. “USDA is grateful for Minnesota’s support strengthening local and regional agricultural supply chains.”
Green Acres Milling in Albert Lea will receive $1,500,000. Featherstone Farm in Rushford will get $250,535.90. $1,572,500 will go to Sno Pac Foods in Caledonia.
“We thank the USDA for the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program which benefits Minnesota businesses, farmers, and consumers by investing in the middle of the food supply chain in our state,” says Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen. “These grants highlight the diversity of Minnesota’s food and ag sector, as the funding will benefit a wide range of industries, locations, and sizes of organizations and businesses.”
Green Acres Milling will purchase cleaning and kilning equipment systems for a new innovative oat milling facility that will enhance the local food system and support rural development by filling a middle-of-the supply-chain gap for oat processing infrastructure. Green Acres Milling says it will work with over 100 local farmers within a 120-mile radius known as the “Oat-Shed” to source oats, offering them a reliable market with fair pricing, enabling production of an estimated 364,800 cwt of high-quality oat groats yearly, and meeting growing consumer demand for traceable, non-GMO, and allergen-free oats.
Featherstone Farm will expand and upgrade its warehouses and walk-in cooler facilities, and make equipment investments in a food safety compliant wash, dry, and pack line for salad crops; returnable plastic containers (RPCs); and a machine to sanitize the RPCs. Featherstone says the upgrades will allow greater aggregation, processing, storing, and distribution of Featherstone Farm’s Minnesota-grown vegetables and crops, as well as products from other Minnesota farms and food producers.
Sno Pac Foods Inc. will construct a new cold storage facility in Caledonia to store their own products, as well as provide additional storage for other agricultural companies. Sno Pac says the new storage facility will be constructed on property adjacent to its existing processing plant and office and will be substantially more efficient, saving time, fuel, labor, and leasing expenses, while filling a drastic need in this part of the state for cold storage.
