USDA Awards Grants In Saco, Opheim
In 2022, 17 agricultural producers across Montana received more than $2.3 million in direct funds through USDA Rural Development’s Value- Added Producer Grant program, which helps businesses generate new products, create, and expand marketing opportunities, and increase overall producer income with the goal of growing local economies in rural and Tribal areas.
Montana’s Value Added Producer Grant recipients in 2022 included the following: Montana Greenhouse Project 365 in Saco received a $49,098 grant for working capital to expand its customer base and increase revenue. Montana Greenhouse grows fruits and vegetables that are sold to local schools, restaurants and individuals locally, providing produce in a food desert area.
North of Nowhere Farm in Opheim, Montana, received a $49,900 grant to assist with processing costs and expand its customer base. North of Nowhere is a majority woman- owned business in a small community of 75 residents that uses regenerative agriculture to raise grass-fed beef and produce nutritional beef sticks.
Other recipients were named in Big Fork, Bozeman, Billings and elsewhere around the state.
USDA Rural Development has six offices in Montana — Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell and Missoula. To learn more about investment resources for rural areas in Montana, call 406-585-2540 or visit www.rd.usda.gov/mt.
