USDA’s Value-Added Producer Grant Program and Its Effect on Business Survival and Growth

by Anil Rupasingha, John Pender, and Seth Wiggins

USDA's Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program provides grants to help farmers and ranchers add greater value for agricultural commodities. An ERS study finds that VAPGs enable recipient businesses to increase the probability of survival and provide more jobs than businesses having similar observable characteristics and employment growth histories that did not receive grants.

See related Amber Waves article: Impacts of the Value-Added Producer Grant Program on Business Outcomes

Keywords: Value-Added Producer Grant Program, USDA-Rural Development, program impact assessment, access to capital, business survival and growth

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