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OVERVIEW OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Applicants must be from the Western SARE region, and most funded activities should take place within.
WSARE represents: Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Federated
States of Micronesia, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern Marianas Islands, Oregon, Utah,
Washington, and Wyoming.

Overview

Funding is available to conduct multi-faceted trainings and networking projects for people and businesses
in local/regional meat systems. Businesses served may be for-profit, not-for-profit, or social service
based. Deliverables may include face-to-face trainings, networking and educational conferences, and
multi-media educational products that address the following:

  1. Skilled workforce development and continuing education
  2. Health and safety of workers in meat supply chain businesses
  3. Safe handling and animal welfare
  4. Food safety and HACCP
  5. Other needs as identified by stakeholders

Applicants may include: secondary, postsecondary, and outreach institutions; trade associations; and
partnered non-governmental organizations and consultancies. Applicants should have access to the
necessary facilities to conduct the proposed activity, including but not limited to: meat laboratories,
commercial kitchens, processing plants/facilities, classrooms, or conference facilities.

Goals of Funding

  1. Support the development of training opportunities and educational materials needed in meat and
    poultry processing across the West. Funded activities will be relevant to the needs of small- or
    medium-scale farmers and ranchers, processors, and allied support businesses/services.
  2. Similarly support historically underserved populations, in commercial/entrepreneurial, traditional,
    and community-based endeavors.
  3. Provide support for, alternative production and processing systems, and niche products and
    markets, including culturally specific meat products.

Funding Categories

Deliverables are designed to be inclusive of all meat supply chain partners; however, training
opportunities, in-person meetings, and educational products will be most applicable to small- and
mid-scale businesses active within local/regional meat supply chains. The following three categories
represent topics/subtopics identified by stakeholders and meat professionals as important for trainings,
presentations, and educational products in the Western Region.

1. Harvest, cutting, packaging, and further processing

    • Humane handling and harvest
    • Basic multi-species cutting
    • Advanced cutting for adding value
    • Cooling, aging and product quality
    • Packaging – how and why
    • Whole muscle
    • Fresh sausage
    • Basic further processed meats
    • Thermal processing and smoking
    • Fine chopped – Hot dogs, Weiswurst, etc.
    • Cooked coarse ground sausage – Polish Kielbasa, etc.
    • Specialty further processed meats and aged products


2. Regulations, equipment, labeling, and packaging

    • HACCP and food safety
    • Deeper look at prerequisite programs
    • Processing equipment (scale and efficiency)
    • Labeling rules and approvals
    • Packaging options and issues


3. Business and other plant issues

    • Cost of production
    • Labor recruitment, retention and training
    • Business planning
    • Accessing capital
    • Pricing
    • Value proposition and marketing
    • Marketing of product
    • Equipment
    • Business continuity, resilience, and succession
    • Waste management – by-products

Examples of Products and Activities

A variety of products and endeavors may be supported including, but not limited to:

  • Hands-on or classroom-based short courses/trainings
    • Facility fees
    • Supplies
    • External/guest instructor fees
    • Limited travel support
    • Other
  • Virtual or multi-media educational events
  • Multi-media educational products
  • Limited travel support for applicants and stakeholders for professional and networking
    conference attendance
  • Support of specific needs within professional and networking conferences or events

Ranges of Awards

Awards may range from $500 to $10,000 per event. When applying, you will be asked to submit a
program budget. If your event is selected for funding, negotiations may take place to consolidate
expenses.

When to Submit

Funding applications must be submitted at least 3 months (you may inquire about shorter-term needs)
prior to the date of the proposed training activity. Applications must be approved before training begins.

How Applications Are Evaluated

Funding is not guaranteed. In order to distribute equitable funding across the Western region, the review
team will monitor the number of requests within each funding category. Submissions from previous
awardees or multiple submissions may be waitlisted or denied.

Contacts

Montana State University Meat Science is serving as the steward of this funding opportunity.

Jane Ann Boles, Ph.D.
Meat Scientist
Montana State University
(406) 994-7352
jboles@montana.edu


Thomas Bass, M.S.
Livestock Environment and Sustainability
Associate Extension Specialist
(406) 994-5733
tmbass@montana.edu


Sierra Jepsen, M.S.
Project Coordinator
(406) 220-1238
sierra.jepsen@montana.edu

Support for this program is provided by USDA NIFA sponsorship award #2022-70420-38269 to
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE).
USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or
recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors(s) and do not necessarily reflect
the view of the USDA.