USDA Begins Obligating Meat Processing Expansion Funds, Including $603,529 for Two South Carolina Processors

(Columbia, S.C., November 2, 2026) - Today, U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development South Carolina State Director Jacob French announced that two South Carolina processors are expected to receive a total of $603,529 to expand their capacity and create new and better markets through the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP).

"President Donald Trump and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins are strengthening American agriculture by investing in the local beef processors our ranchers and farmers rely on," said State Director French. "I have seen firsthand from my time in the Office of Food Safety how important local small processors are. These awards are a major investment in South Carolina's rural economy, creating new jobs, increasing competition and building a more resilient beef supply chain."

In South Carolina, the following processors will receive MPPEP grants:

• Knockout Butchery LLC, Roebuck, Spartanburg County: $414,604.

  Knockout Butchery LLC is a USDA-inspected meat processing facility serving livestock producers throughout the Upstate and across South Carolina. Rather than constructing a new processing plant, the project will retrofit an existing building adjacent to the current facility into specialized ready-to-eat manufacturing space. This expansion allows raw slaughter and fabrication activities to remain within the existing USDA-inspected facility, while cooking, smoking, packaging and other ready-to-eat operations move into a separate production environment designed for value-added manufacturing. Upon completion, production will expand from approximately 15,400 pounds to more than 205,400 pounds.

• Neverdun Farms, LLC, Sumter County: $188,925.

  This investment will purchase equipment to improve productivity, final storage capacity and sustainability of Neverdun Farms' beef processing business. The project includes an applicant contribution of $62,975. Funds will help increase capacity by converting one part-time position to full-time and potentially adding one additional part-time employee to support expanded operations. Annual harvest capacity is expected to increase from approximately 250-300 head to a maximum of approximately 400 head using the equipment purchased through this grant.

The South Carolina awards are part of a national announcement by Vice President J.D. Vance and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins that processors in 40 states are expected to receive a total of $57,424,130 in 147 awards. The announcement builds on President Trump's Executive Order "Promoting Fair Competition in Livestock Markets and Expanding Market Access for American Meat Producers."

MPPEP is managed by USDA Rural Development's Rural Business-Cooperative Services. The program provides grants to help eligible independent processors expand their capacity. USDA Rural Development designed the program to encourage competition and sustainable growth in the United States meat processing sector and improve supply chain resiliency.

Eligible applicants include for-profit and nonprofit entities, producer-owned cooperatives and corporations, certified benefit corporations, Tribes and Tribal entities, state or local government entities, and other business types (regardless of legal structure). Private entities must be independently owned and operated, and all entities must be domestically owned.

USDA has awarded more than $200 million to independent businesses under the MPPEP program. These projects have created thousands of jobs across the country. Learn more about USDA's investments to strengthen the meat and poultry supply chain at usda.gov/meat.

USDA Rural Development invests in rural America with programs to promote rural prosperity. These programs expand access to high-speed internet, electricity, and transportation infrastructure, and support economic growth, healthcare, education, housing and other community essentials. Discover more investment details and historical data in the Rural Data Gateway and learn more about the agency at www.rd.usda.gov/sc .

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