Oregon Company Receives Fertilizer Production Expansion Program Funds

Last week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the latest funds dolled out by the USDA's Fertilizer Production Expansion Program, or F-PEP. 

“We're announcing an additional 7 projects that we're funding in seven states, an investment of about $35 million in expanded fertilizer capacity.”

The program Vilsack noted, awards grants to help business modernize, equip, adopt new technologies, build production plants and other methods to improve domestic fertilizer production.  Since the creation of F-PEP.

“We have the date funded 64 projects within this fertilizer initiative investing $286 million," Vilsack said.  "These projects are located in 32 states.” 

And expected over 5.6 million tons of increased fertilizer production is estimated through F-PEP projects.

“We have more projects that we're in the process of reviewing from an environmental standpoint and here that over the course of the next two months or so, we'll be making additional announcements.” 

One of the facilities to receive F-PEP funding is Valley Fresh Foods based in Woodburn, OR.   The dollars will allow Valley Fresh Foods to construct a facility to process on-farm chicken litter into a nutrient rich, heat pasteurized pellet product available for local producers.  It’s expected this facility is expected to generate 100 million tons of pelletized product annually and create 10 full time positions.

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