The U.S. Department of Agriculture
has awarded $390,200 in grants for five New Jersey
value-added agricultural market development projects,
New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Charles M. Kuperus
announced today.
"This is the first time in many years that
the federal government has supported new economic
development initiatives in agriculture in New Jersey," said
Secretary Kuperus. "These grants will greatly
assist our efforts to expand the marketplace for
our farmers and to ensure a strong agricultural industry
here in the Garden State."
"These grants are important because they provide
the foundation to enhance the return on agricultural
investment in New Jersey, and support a viable economic
environment for agriculture in the state," said
Andrew Law, State Director of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's Rural Development Office in New
Jersey.
Value-added agriculture refers to taking raw agricultural
products and refining them in some way to add further
value to them, for example, through processing or
packaging.
The USDA awarded the following grants for value-added
projects in New Jersey:
- $219,000 to Garden State Ethanol, Inc., of Bordentown
to conduct a feasibility study and develop a business
plan to site an ethanol production plant in South
Jersey;
- $107,000 to the Sussex County Milk Producers
in Lafayette to conduct a feasibility analysis
and develop a business plan for producing Jersey
Fresh value-added dairy products, including a Jersey
Fresh milk brand;
- $25,100 to the Jersey Fruit Cooperative Association
in Glassboro to conduct a market audit study for
New Jersey peaches to identify future value-added
markets;
- $25,100 to BJ Farms in Bridgeton to establish
a year-round, value-added tomato processing operation;
and
$14,000 to M.R. Dickinson & Son in Bridgeton to
conduct marketing, production and business structure
studies for developing value-added products using culinary
herbs, corn, wheat or hay. |