IOWA MEAT PROCESSING FACILITY USES GRANT FUNDING TO EXPAND CAPACITY, MEET DEMAND
American Rescue Plan Act funding fuels job growth and economic opportunity in rural town
FUNDING SOURCE
aMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT
partner organization
Resource Rural
Beef is big business in Lime Springs. A rural Iowa town in the northeast corner of the state, Lime Springs is home to a post office, a restaurant, a gas station, a new Dollar General convenience store and not a single traffic signal.
“It’s a really, really small town,” said Jacey Bina, one of the town’s 473 residents. “It’s your typical hometown feel. Everyone knows everyone. That’s what is great about it.”
Upper Iowa Beef, a beef harvesting and processing facility where Bina works as a data coordinator, is the town’s largest company. And after being awarded an $8.8 million Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program grant by the USDA as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Upper Iowa Beef’s influence on the local economy and job market will become even more pronounced.
Cattle graze on the farm of Ed Greiman, Upper Iowa Beef’s General Manager.
Congress approved the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, and President Joe Biden signed it into law in March of that year. The act has provided funding for a range of projects in rural communities, including expansion efforts for meat processing facilities like Upper Iowa Beef.
“We will have more capacity to take in more cattle,” Bina said of the grant’s impact. “So as we grow, we can grow the number of producers who can bring cattle to us. When one spot grows, the other relationship grows with it.”
Since 2017, Upper Iowa Beef has been supporting local angus cattle producers with its beef harvesting and processing services. The organization then sells the beef, usually in larger loin cuts, to a portfolio of clients.
United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visits Upper Iowa Beef’s facility in Lime Springs, Iowa.
When the company launched about seven years ago, it was processing about 25 head of cattle a day. It had 15 producers and one customer. A year later, those figures jumped to 60 head of cattle, 26 producers and 15 customers. And, as of early 2024, Upper Iowa Beef harvested and processed about 470 head of cattle a day for 352 producers and nearly 70 customers.
The growing demand necessitated growth and prompted Upper Iowa Beef to seek support in the form of a federal grant.
“It was a long process to get here and it wasn’t easy by any means, but we’re grateful to have it,” Bina said of the grant application process. “There’s a lot of supporting money out there. It’s just finding the people to talk to about it and learning how to get it.”
The grant funding supports expansion efforts at Upper Iowa Beef. With federal investment, Upper Iowa Beef has updated its refrigeration, added a new packaging room, expanded cattle pens and beefed up its wastewater system. The support also has a positive ripple effect through and beyond Lime Springs.
Scott & Julie Niess have worked as producers with Upper Iowa Beef to expand the facility’s capacity.
Carcasses ready for the fabrication floor after being graded.
And as Upper Iowa Beef harvests and processes more cattle, the company has hired more employees. What began with fewer than 50 employees in 2017 has grown to a robust workforce of about 300 people, providing steady work and economic opportunity for residents in and around Lime Springs.
“The community has really grown over the years. It’s been exponential. And we’ve brought huge growth to the area. We hope to continue bringing it,” Bina said. “We hope our employees support local and we also support local. As we grow, we want them to grow with us.”
The American Rescue Plan Act was a stimulus package passed by the 117th U.S. Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was signed into law in March of 2021 by President Joe Biden to aid in the country’s economic recovery.
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