Invest in Iowa's Farmers: Coalition Pushes for Increased Value-Added Grant Funding
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chris Schwartz, Iowa Food System Coalition Executive Director
Email: director@iowafoodsystemcoalition.org
Invest in Iowa's Farmers: Coalition Pushes for Increased Value-Added Grant Funding
January 3, 2025
The U.S. Congress missed the deadline to pass a 2024 Farm Bill—leaving farmers and eaters in limbo. Corn and soybean prices are way down, and today, America’s farms make less than 9 cents of every dollar spent in the grocery store.
But there is plenty the Iowa legislature can do to help.
One way is through the Choose Iowa Value-Added Grant. Launching a “value-added enterprise” is arguably the best way for farms to increase their slice of the profit pie and bring greater returns and jobs to rural communities.
Kittleson Brothers of Saint Ansgar is an operation that demonstrates the transformative impact value-added agriculture can have on rural communities and farms. Located in Mitchell County, they grow and distribute potatoes and onions to grocery stores across North and Eastern Iowa. As one of the few wholesale farms supplying locally grown produce to Hy-Vee and Fareway stores nearly year-round, their work underscores the importance of strategic investments like the Choose Iowa Value-Added Grant.
As Beth Rachut of Kittleson Brothers explains, “The grant gave us money to transform an existing barn into a walk-in cooler, maximizing our space and time. Now we can expand our produce seasons to better serve our markets. Without the Choose Iowa Grant, this wouldn't have been possible.”
The Iowa Food System Coalition—a group of more than 40 farm and food system partners representing everyone from farmers to nonprofit organizations, government agencies to food banks—is calling for increased funding to the value-added program and modifications to the grant structure, such as waiving the 1:1 match requirement for small and under-resourced farmers. In 2024, only 26 farmers, small businesses, and nonprofits were awarded funding—but Iowa is home to more than 86,000 farms.
Real Food Deserves a Bigger Slice of Iowa’s Agricultural Pie!
Why this is an important story for Iowa audiences:
Adding value to farm gate products increases the economic impact of local foods grown and processed in rural Iowa.
In 2024, requests for value-added grants in Iowa topped $1,130,139, but only $463,000 was available for grants.
According to Choose Iowa (IDALS), the estimated value of grant projects to local communities in 2024 was $1,993,190.47.
Studies have shown increased consumer demand for health, nutrition, and convenience, creating greater opportunities for product differentiation and added value to raw commodities.
