09/11/08 Value-added grants

Washington Ag September 11, 2008 The USDA recently announced the recipients of more than 19-million dollars in USDA Rural Development assistance under the Value-Added Producer Grant program. Three grants totaling approximately 459-thousand dollars were awarded to Washington operations. The largest, 300-thousand dollars, went to Stemlit Growers. Wilcox Farms received 82-thousand and Bluebird Grain Farms nearly 77-thousand dollars. The Value-Added Producer Grants may be used for feasibility studies or business plans, working capital for marketing value-added products and for farm-based renewable energy projects. USDA undersecretary for Rural Development Tom Dorr says follow-up is done on these grants. Dorr: "We look forward to analyzing the outcome of those because we do track them. We are able to analyze what kind of economic growth potential they create. That's what makes this so valuable because we can track and ultimately determine if we are making the right decisions or not." Funding of individual recipients is contingent upon their meeting the conditions of the grant agreement. U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell is one of 57 Senators and Representatives that were presented this week with the Golden Triangle Award from the National Farmers Union, which is given to lawmakers who the NFU says have demonstrated leadership on issues relevant to America's farmers and ranchers. I'm Bob Hoff.