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Agriculture committee backs $5M CARES grant to expand small meat processors; Farm Bureau urges broader eligibility and bigger pot
Summary
The Senate agriculture committee recommended state concurrence for a $5 million CARES Act grant to expand small meat processing; stakeholders urged broader eligibility (including state‑inspected facilities) and a 90/10 cost‑share, and the committee also approved a separate IT reimbursement proposal.
Wes Ward, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, asked the committee to recommend two CARES Act proposals: a roughly $215,000 IT reimbursement and a $5,000,000 grant to expand small meat‑processing capacity affected by pandemic disruptions.
Michael Lee, Arkansas Farm Bureau beef division chair, told the committee that limited inspected capacity had delayed scheduling into 2021–2022 and that…
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