BAYFIELD, Wisc., Oct. 18, 2024 – United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Lillian Salerno, alongside Wisconsin State Director Julie Lassa, today visited the fifth generation local ag producers at Hauser’s Superior View Farms to hear about new opportunities for hard apple cider production at their Apfelhaus Cidery.
“Today we get to see first-hand how important it is to invest in strengthening our nation’s food supply chain and rural small businesses,” Acting Deputy Under Secretary Salerno said. “Under President Biden’s leadership, USDA remains dedicated to helping rural ag producers and small food supply businesses be innovative, grow their business and customer base, and together this builds a better America.”
The story behind this expansive farm nestled on a hill overlooking the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior began in 1908 when a Swiss American family with a gifted horticulturist of strawberries and prize-winning potatoes settled in Bayfield, Wisconsin. As time went on, family members added the growing and selling of perennial plants and an orchard of apples and pears as a way to make extra income for their growing Hauser name. The farm still has many of the original heirloom apple trees planted over 100 years ago. The Red Barn farm store came about in the 1980s when a family member started the tradition of making and selling homemade jams, jelly, and apple butter.
In 2021, the Hausers’ received a $250,000 Rural Development Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) to expand processing, marketing and distribution of hard apple cider products and the addition of two employees. Since 2021, Rural Development has helped 40 rural small business and agricultural producers across Wisconsin with value-added production, totaling more than $7.2 million in investments.
Salerno and Lassa and followed up their tour of the perennial plant farm and apple orchard with a visit to the Red Barn farm store and the Apfelhaus Cidery to test out some of the Hauser’s newest cider products. These new products, with help from USDA’s investment, will increase their customer base by 4,000 people and increase annual revenue by nearly $910,000.
Background: Value Added Producer Grants
VAPGs help rural businesses hire more workers and reach new customers by expanding their product(s) lines. The VAPG program provides post-harvest grants to assist producers with planning and working capital activities associated with processing or marketing value-added products from agricultural commodities. Each year under the program, USDA typically funds more than 150 projects totaling approximately $30 million.
USDA accepts applications for Value-Added Producer Grants on an annual basis through a notice of funding opportunity application window. Reach out to your State Office to learn more.
The agency is simplifying and streamlining processes for the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG), Agriculture Innovation Center (AIC) and Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG) programs. The changes will reduce applicant burden in documenting application and eligibility requirements, modernize scoring criteria, and standardize application periods for all the programs. The changes will take effect Nov. 15, 2024. Comments must be submitted at Regulations.gov by Oct. 16, 2024. For more information on all the program updates, visit page 75762 of the Sept. 16 Federal Register.
Projects funded through USDA’s Business Programs open the door to new economic opportunities for communities and people who historically have lacked access to critical resources and financing. These investments help entrepreneurs, business cooperatives and farmers create or save jobs, grow businesses, and find new and better markets for the items they produce.
Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans 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, Tribal and high-poverty areas.
For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov/wi or contact the nearest USDA Rural Development office. If you’d like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates in Wisconsin, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page.