南达科他州两家肉类加工商获农业部40.8万美元扩产拨款：新设备助产能最高提升40%
美国农业部（USDA）农村发展署11月5日在南达科他州 Huron 宣布，该州两家肉类加工商将合计获得 408,410 美元拨款，用于扩大加工产能、开拓新市场。这笔资金来自农业部肉类与家禽加工扩张计划（MPPEP），该计划近期新一轮宣布的全国投资为 5,700 万美元。
两家获资助企业中，Very Good Meat Company LLC 获 224,292 美元，将购置肉饼成型机、牛肉棒灌装机和卷膜包装机。农业部表示，新设备有望提高生产效率、加快包装速度并稳定产品品质，让更多本地牛肉加工成高附加值产品。
Bluebird Locker, Inc. 获 184,118 美元，将购置一台卷膜包装机，把包装环节自动化、缓解包装瓶颈，加工产能最高可提升 40%。
农业部农村发展署南达科他州主任 Lorraine Polak 表示，这笔资金将帮助小型和区域加工商扩产增效，最终给养殖户带来更多机会和更多出售牛肉的渠道，也让社区居民买到品质好的本地产品。
农业部称，MPPEP 计划迄今已向独立企业累计拨款逾 2 亿美元，相关项目在全美创造了数千个就业岗位。
USDA Awards $408,410 to Two South Dakota Meat Processors: New Equipment to Raise Capacity by Up to 40%
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development agency announced in Huron, South Dakota, on November 5 that two meat processors in the state will receive a combined $408,410 to expand their capacity and create new and better markets. The funding comes through USDA's Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP), under which the department recently announced $57 million in new investments nationwide.
Very Good Meat Company LLC will receive $224,292 to expand beef processing and value-added product capacity by purchasing a patty machine, a beef stick stuffer, and a rollstock packaging machine. USDA said the investments are expected to increase production efficiency, improve packaging speed and product consistency, and allow more locally sourced beef to be processed into higher-value products.
Bluebird Locker, Inc. will receive $184,118 to purchase a rollstock packaging machine to automate packaging operations, increase processing efficiency, and reduce packaging bottlenecks. The new equipment is expected to expand processing capacity by up to 40%.
Lorraine Polak, USDA Rural Development's South Dakota state director, said the funding will help small and regional processors expand and become more efficient, ultimately giving producers more opportunity and more choices of where to take their beef, while providing good-quality products in local communities.
USDA said it has awarded more than $200 million to independent businesses under the MPPEP program, and that the projects have created thousands of jobs across the country.
来源：美国农业部农村发展署
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：牧场上放牧的赫里福德肉牛。照片：King of Hearts，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons 发布／Hereford beef cattle grazing on pasture. Photo by King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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