Secretary Vilsack announced $449 million in loan guarantees to 128 rural businesses through funding made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

"We can revitalize rural communities and spur economic opportunity by building infrastructure to strengthen local food systems and creating a stronger link between local food production and local consumption," said Vilsack.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the allocation of $56.2 million in Recovery Act money as loan guarantees for small businesses. The announcement comes on the heels of a $71.7 million allocation, also from the USDA Rural Development Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program, on Oct. 21.

The Department of Agriculture announced the launch of the Food Commodity Contracting Opportunities for Rural America program. The agency will hold a series of conferences on business opportunities as part of the launch. The program is designed to increase the competitiveness of rural businesses and farmer cooperatives in winning contracts from USDA.

The Agriculture Department will be giving out $18 million in value-added producer grants, which go to help farmers find nontraditional or technology-driven uses for their products. These funds will favor owners of small- to medium-sized farms. USDA specified that 10 percent of the money will go to beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, and an additional 10 percent will go to projects that match up independent producers with businesses that market value-added products. Applicants can get planning grants, which are used to assess the feasibility of projects, of up to $100,000 and working capital grants, which fund the expenses of a venture, of up to $300,000.

President Obama's budget outline provides $61 million in grants to rural business owners as well as value-added and minority producers.