USDA announced almost $14 million in grants for universities across the country to help resolve issues for small businesses due to COVID-19. Here’s a quick look at the grants that are being used specifically to help in the agricultural sector.
- The University of Arizona received a $516,786 grant to look into the spread of the virus at farmer’s markets.
- Iowa State University was given a grant for $485,000 to “enhance the resiliency of the beef, pork, dairy, and egg supply chains by providing evidence of the activities, mechanisms, and investments that will allow them to be more resilient in the face of future COVID-19 or similar disruptions.”
- Kansas State University was provided a $1 million grant to figure out why the virus that causes COVID-19 is such an issue at meat and poultry processing plants.
- The University of Minnesota also received a $1 million grant in order to gather more science-based information and resources so that if something like this were to happen again, it wouldn’t shake the U.S. food supply chain so much. Basically, the goal is for the supply chain to become better prepared for future issues.
- Texas A&M’s grant was for $1 million as well. Their goal is to study the affect of the virus on meat production.
- Lastly, the University of Texas at Houston was given a grant for $639,000 to supply dairy farmers with more information on the coronavirus so that they can keep their farms and employees safe.
