USDA announced this week it will invest $320 million in loans and grants to strengthen food supply chains in 19 states. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says this will help create new and better markets for agriculture producers and food businesses in rural America.

“The Biden-Harris Administration and USDA are standing up for America’s farmers and ranchers by expanding processing capacity, creating fairer markets, more revenue streams and market opportunities which help bring down food costs for families at the grocery store,” Vilsack says. “We are partnering with entrepreneurs in rural areas to build brighter futures, connect business owners to new markets and create good jobs for generations to come. These investments reflect the goals of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to rebuild our economy from the bottom up and middle out and make our communities more resilient.”

USDA will fund this latest initiative through four programs including the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program, the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program, the Business and Industry Land Guarantee Program and the Rural Economic Development Laon and Grant Program. The investments will support projects in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Iowa, Idaho, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

The largest share of funding among the 27 approved projects will go to Origo Cold Madera Phase I in Madera County, Calif. That company will use its $35 million loan to build a 250,000 square foot cold storage facility. Upon completion it will be leased to Almond World, which will lease space to almond growers and processors in California’s Central Valley.

FPG Manufacturing in Mobile, Alabama will use its $27.7 million loan on an expansion project that is expected to create nearly 50 new jobs.

Florence, Kentucky agriculture producer Trellis Loop Florence will use its $25 million loan to purchase equipment for the processing section if its vertically integrated, controlled environment, hydroponics grow-out facility.

In all, USDA will invest more than $303 million in loans and just over $16.5 million in grants through this latest initiative.