Investment to Assist Agricultural Producers
The Trump Administration along with Florida/U.S. Virgin Islands State Director Phil Leary has announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $1.5 million to assist agricultural producers in rural Florida. USDA is providing the funding through Rural Development’s Value-Added Producer Grant program.
“Rural Florida would not exist without the hard work and sweat of our local agricultural producers,” said Phil Leary, State Director for Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands. “Under the leadership of President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Perdue, Rural Development has been given the ability to utilize many loan and grant programs to help our rural areas and agricultural producers and I am honored to be a part of that.”
The following is an example of a project being funded under today’s announcement:
- In Okeechobee County, a $246,000 grant will be utilized to provide working capital to add value to a producer’s cow milk business. Sutton Milk, LLC, an independent producer with a dairy farm, is launching a milk bottling business. Milk from the farm will be minimally processed and bottled in glass bottles and sold locally in southeastern Florida. The grant and matching funds will be used to develop high quality branding, packaging, and website design. This job will create three jobs in the food processing industry in Okeechobee.
USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities and create jobs in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov.
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