USDA awards $4.9M to AD project as part of fertilizer initiative

The USDA on March 10 announced it has extended $29 million in grant offers to eight projects under the first round of its Fertilizer Production Expansion Program. One of those eight projects aims to expand an anerobic digestion facility in Missouri.

The USDA began accepting applications for the newly launched FPEP program in September 2022. The program aims to add innovative domestic fertilizer production capacity in the U.S. to increase availability and reduce costs. The agency initially announced plans to award $250 million in grants under the program, but soon doubled available funding to $500 million.

According to the USDA, the agency received approximately $3 billion in applications from more than 350 businesses from 47 states and two territories for the first two rounds of the program.

The $29 million in grant offers announced March 10 represents the first funding round, which targets projects that can come online in the near term and provide increased fertilizer capacity for the 2023 or 2024 crop year.

As part of the first round grant offers, the USDA has offered $4.9 million to Missouri-based Palindromes Inc. to support the expanded use of anaerobic digestion and renewable energy to produce, process and sell climate-smart fertilizer and associated products. The project will convert animal manure, meat processing and food waste into dried organic fertilizer and soil amendments.

The USDA said it plans to release additional details on the second round of applications in the coming weeks as reviews are completed. Additional information is available on the USDA website.