The Iowa Cattlemen?s Association supports a bill approved by the State Legislature and signed by Governor Kim Reynolds that provides funds to small meat lockers.
On the final day of the 2021 session, the Iowa Senate took up a bill that was previously passed by the House in April to create a Butchery Innovation and Revitalization Fund. Through the Iowa Economic Development Authority, the bill would provide $750,000 in the first year to small meat lockers to help them expand and improve their operation.
The bill ? which was crafted by freshman Republican Representative Chad Ingels ? was signed by Governor Reynolds earlier this month.
Cora Fox is director of government relations for the Iowa Cattlemen?s Association. She tells IARN the legislation also creates a task force.
?The task force is charged with helping get a program off the ground to build a labor force that actually serves those local lockers,? said Fox. ?You can build the facilities, but you?ve got to have skilled labor to come in and do the work.?
Fox spoke highly of the bill, and said ICA supports the legislation.
?We believe that local processing is an important part of our beef industry,? said Fox. ?At the same time, we also see an opportunity to build more opportunity at the regional level, so a little bit bigger scale, but we do see this as a positive step in the right direction here moving forward.?
The grant funds will be made available to meat processing facilities that employ less than 50 people.
