Grants would ease stresses for livestock processing

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A quasi-state agency is taking steps to alleviate a persistent headache for livestock producers — the critical shortage of regional processing capacity.

MARBIDCO has announced two programs to help expand the capacity of existing processing facilities through grants and financing. The goal is to reduce long wait times for processing, which can sometimes exceed a year, and to minimize the need for farmers to travel long distances to processors in Pennsylvania and Virginia.

“We still have a problem and so we’re trying to be helpful,” Steve McHenry, the corporation’s executive director said. “We just want to be a catalyst for helping grow that capacity.”

The first program offers up to $50,000 to existing slaughterhouses to expand their operations — both for USDA-certified and custom-exempt — with a particular focus on large animals and blue catfish, provided they match the amount dollar-for-dollar. The second initiative, available on July 1, will open a loan pool of approximately $2.4 million that is funded by both the USDA and MARBIDCO itself.

The money is available to anyone interested in creating a new, large, USDA-certified meat processing facility, which could cost up to $3 million, McHenry said. MARBIDCO also plans to release another $500,000 in grants on July 1 on a two-for-one match-up to $240,000. (If the applicant puts up $120,000, MARBIDCO matches with $240,000.)

“Either people are going to come with bunches of money or they’re going to borrow (from a bank),” McHenry said.

MARBIDCO hopes the money fuels the construction of two new processors. The grants also hope to boost the processing of Maryland-harvested blue catfish, which is native to the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio river basins. The fish was introduced to Virginia waterways in the 1960s and spread throughout the Chesapeake Bay region, where it feeds on mussels, freshwater clams, perch, rockfish and blue crabs while outcompeting native species, according to the Maryland Department of Agriculture.

In 2018, the state announced contracts with two seafood companies to sell blue catfish for use at state institutions providing food services — a program meant to entice Bay watermen to catch the fish.

“Blue catfish is pretty good eating,” McHenry said.

Aspiring processor owners would join a host of regional efforts to expand processing capacity in Southern Maryland, Frederick County and Delaware.

Applications for the processor expansion grant are due to MARBIDCO by June 1.

The state created MARBIDCO in 2004 to develop agricultural industries and markets, assist with rural land preservation, and help farmers and resource-based businesses receive affordable, low-interest credit.