USDA Awards $603,529 to Expand Meat Processing Capacity in South Carolina: Two Processors Funded
Jacob French, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director for South Carolina, announced in Columbia on November 2, 2026, that two South Carolina meat processors are expected to receive a total of $603,529 through the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP) to expand their capacity and create new and better markets.
The two recipients are Knockout Butchery LLC of Roebuck, in Spartanburg County, which will receive $414,604, and Neverdun Farms, LLC of Sumter County, which will receive $188,925.
Knockout Butchery is a USDA-inspected meat processing facility serving livestock producers throughout the Upstate and across South Carolina. Rather than constructing a new plant, the project will retrofit an existing building adjacent to the current facility into specialized ready-to-eat manufacturing space: slaughter and fabrication will remain in the existing inspected facility, while cooking, smoking, packaging and other ready-to-eat operations move into the separate space. Annual production is expected to expand from about 15,400 pounds to more than 205,400 pounds.
Neverdun Farms will use its grant to purchase equipment to improve productivity and final storage capacity, with an applicant contribution of $62,975. Its annual harvest capacity is expected to rise from about 250 to 300 head to a maximum of about 400 head, converting one part-time position to full-time and potentially adding one additional part-time position.
French said President Donald Trump and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins are strengthening American agriculture by investing in the local beef processors ranchers and farmers rely on, and that, from his time in the Office of Food Safety, he has seen firsthand how important local small processors are. He called the awards a major investment in South Carolina's rural economy, creating jobs, increasing competition and building a more resilient beef supply chain.
The South Carolina awards are part of a national announcement by Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary Rollins under which processors in 40 states are expected to receive a total of $57,424,130 in 147 awards. MPPEP is managed by Rural Development's Rural Business-Cooperative Services and provides grants to help independently owned processors expand capacity, encourage competition and improve supply chain resiliency. USDA has awarded more than $200 million to independent businesses under the program, and Rural Development is now beginning to obligate the funds state by state. (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture)
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：南卡罗来纳州一处肉牛牧场（资料图）。美国农业部自然资源保护局摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: A beef cattle pasture in South Carolina (file photo). USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
