Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced nine Choose Iowa Butchery Innovation Grants at Maxwell Custom Beef in Des Moines Wednesday.
The awards ranged from $20,000 to $75,000 and required a 1-to-1 match from each business.
“We think that's good leverage for this program, helps small businesses, especially in rural areas, with equipment and facility needs, new smokehouses, freezer and cooler systems, processing line expansions and equipment modernization,” Naig said.
Tucker Maxwell, owner of Maxwell Custom Beef, recently purchased his processing facility from Amend Packing Company. He said the $20,000 state grant will support equipment upgrades that will more than double the butcher shop’s weekly capacity.
Other projects include purchasing and installing a freezer facility at Milo Locker Meats in Warren County and buying a meat slicer and vacuum sealer for ground meat packaging at Friedrichsen Meat Company in O’Brien County.
The nine grants totaled $355,000 and used state appropriations from the 2024 and 2025 legislative sessions.
Naig said the nearly two dozen applications for this round of funding show “strong interest and demand from processors statewide.”
The grants are part of the Choose Iowa Program, which serves as the state’s branding and marketing campaign for agricultural products grown, raised and made in the state. Naig said it was born from disrupted supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing demand from consumers for local food, especially meat.
Despite the growth in sales, Lucas Van Wyk, president of the Iowa Meat Processors Association, said the industry has experienced challenges in the last five years. This includes labor shortages and higher input costs, like beef.
“Beef prices right now are at an all-time high, and with no end in sight right now. They just keep climbing,” Van Wyk said.
Economists say high prices are likely to continue until the number of beef cattle increases, which could take a few years.
The U.S. had around 28.7 million beef cows as of July 1, marking a record low since data collection began in 1973. Years of drought in the Great Plains contributed to higher feeding costs for ranchers and a contraction in the national herd size.
Van Wyk said the state grants can help small-scale processors become more efficient and increase their capacity, while supporting sustainable, long-term growth for the sector overall.
“I've always believed that butchery is more than a trade. It's a tradition. It's a skill passed down, rooted in respect for the animal, the farmer and the consumer,” Van Wyk said. “This grant gives us the tools to preserve and advance that tradition. It allows us to train the next generation, create good jobs in rural Iowa and keep our food supply resilient and close to home.”
Iowa has over 280 licensed meat and poultry plants, which range from small- to large-scale operations.
The 9 Choose Iowa grant recipients:
Weaver Meats | Afton | $40,000
Purchase of a RTE cooler and Enviro-Pak smokehouse.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $105,119
Cherokee Locker | Cherokee | $75,000
Purchase of a freezer and expansion of the cut and packing line.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $512,287
Maxwell Custom Beef (formerly Amend Packing Company) | Des Moines | $20,000
Upgrade and modernization of processing equipment.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $57,683
Tiefenthaler Quality Meats (Food Locker Service, Inc.) | Holstein | $45,000
Addition of a smokehouse.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $129,877
Milo Locker Meats (Tribal Meat LLC) | Milo | $75,000
Purchase and installation of a freezer facility.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $282,000
Friedrichsen Meat Company | Sutherland | $25,000
Purchase of a meat slicer, vacuum sealer and automatic double clipper for ground meat packaging.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $110,436
Skoglund Meats | West Bend | $25,000
Addition of a smokehouse.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $292,180
Winthrop Locker LLC | Winthrop | $25,000
Purchase of a 500T smokehouse.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $62,166
Yetter Locker | Yetter | $25,000
Incorporate harvest floor improvements, a rail processing cooler and a finished product walk-in freezer.
Anticipated Total Project Cost: $388,872
