By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly toured Yoder Meats Wednesday afternoon. The processor was a recipient of a $100,000 Securing Local Food Systems grant.
"We know how important it is to not only protect the beginning of the process, but the whole supply chain process," Kelly said. "That's what Yoder Meats is and that's what the other recipients of this particular grant are getting."
Chad Bontrager with Yoder Meats says this will help them weather the peaks and valleys of production better.
"It's going to give us the opportunity to expand our cold storage capacity here at the Yoder facility, more than double what we currently have," Bontrager said. "This lets us do a couple of things. One, stockpile inventory during slower times that we can use to meet peak demand and then also, that's kind of the first step in a long-term plan to increase overall production."
The problem for Yoder Meats was never animals to process, just the space to get it done.
"The small plants we have, nearly 90 of them across Kansas, their business just really skyrocketed and they were having trouble keeping up with demand," said Agriculture Secretary Mike Beam. "The primary factor in capacity is some of the equipment."
Krehbiel's Specialty Meats in McPherson also recieved a $100,000 grant from the program. Grazing Plains Farm in Whitewater got $50,000, Mark's Meats in Halstead received $60,000 and the Prairy Market & Deli in Newton received $75,000.