Vice President JD Vance announced on Monday, October 26, 2026, that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $57 million in grants for meatpacking facilities across 40 states. The announcement was made during a campaign event for Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) held at HME Inc. in Topeka, Kansas. Vance stated that 10 of the facilities receiving funding are located in Kansas, a move he said is intended to increase market competition and lower beef prices for consumers.
The funding is provided through the USDA’s Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program. According to a release from the Agriculture Department, the grants are designed to expand processing capacity and create new market opportunities for ranchers. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins stated that the initiative follows a presidential executive order aimed at promoting fair competition in livestock markets.
The grant announcement is part of a series of agricultural policy updates delivered by the administration during recent campaign stops. In the week prior, Vance announced a $1.3 billion investment in domestic fertilizer manufacturing in Nebraska. Additionally, President Trump recently announced the $8 billion Harvest Fuel Relief Program to provide one-time payments to farmers for diesel costs and signed an executive order to expand access to tax-exempt red-dyed diesel.
The scale of the investment involves $57 million in federal grants distributed across dozens of states, though the specific amount allocated to each of the 10 Kansas facilities was not reported. Ranchers and facility owners would notice the impact through funded expansions of their physical plants or processing capabilities. This follows other large-scale agricultural interventions, including a $1.3 billion fertilizer initiative and an $8 billion fuel relief program, signaling a pattern of direct federal financial support to the agricultural sector during the current harvest season.
What happens next: The grants will be administered through the USDA’s existing Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program. While the announcement was made on October 26, the specific dates for the disbursement of funds to the 10 Kansas facilities were not reported. The news comes one week before the midterm elections, where Sen. Roger Marshall is facing a challenge from Democrat Adam Hamilton. President Trump is also scheduled to visit Kansas later this week following the Vice President's stop.