The United States Department of Agriculture is awarding Eleven Oaks Farms with a Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) to establish a marketing strategy for their Wagyu Beef operation. This funding comes from the Rural Development agency of the USDA.
“The Value-Added Producer Grant program is an important part of Rural Development’s mission, because it encourages agricultural producers to utilize their products for maximum financial gain,” said Rural Development State Director Tom Williams. “The agricultural producers of Pennsylvania work hard to cultivate their products, and the VAPG program helps promote these products into a marketable source of income.”
Eleven Oaks Farms is receiving a $250,000 grant from the VAPG program for their Wagyu Beef production, which is marketed under the name Blue Mountain Wagyu. This grant will be used to provide professional media and marketing assistance for their beef products, which will include social media assistance and website upgrades, as well as direct sales and customer service fulfillment for their custom beef processing operation.
USDA Rural Development offers numerous business programs to qualified applicants, including Rural Business Enterprise Grants, Rural Energy for America Grants, and Business & Industry Loan Guarantees. For a full list of Rural Development programs, visit the website at http://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services.
Last year, Rural Development funded over $790 million in federal loan and grant money for 5,363 projects in rural Pennsylvania. These projects include rural business opportunities, single and multi-family housing programs, community facilities, and water and environmental programs. To learn more about Rural Development and how they could possibly affect change in your area, visit the website at www.rd.usda.gov/pa.