Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Strengthening Processing for US Ranchers (SPUR) Guaranteed Loan Program for Fiscal Year 2027 and Guarantee Fee Rates/Loan Guarantee Percentage and Fee for Issuance of Loan Note Guarantee Prior to Construction Completion
The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS or Agency), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development mission area (RD) announces the accept...
The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS or Agency), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development mission area (RD) announces the acceptance of guaranteed loan applications under the Strengthening Processing for US Ranchers (SPUR) Guaranteed Loan Program. This notice provides applicants with the Guarantee Fee rates, Loan Guarantee percentage, the Periodic Retention Fee, and Fee for Issuance of the Loan Note Guarantee Prior to Construction Completion for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027, to be used when applying for guaranteed loans under the SPUR Guaranteed Loan Program. Should the fees need to be adjusted, the Agency will publish a subsequent notice in the
Federal Register
. These guaranteed funds will be made available to eligible lenders to make loans to eligible borrowers seeking to support a range of activities to increase and diversify the processing capacity of American Meat, Poultry, and Seafood. USDA is also making funding available for technical assistance through providers who are experts in the fields of meat, poultry, and seafood processing, and business planning.
DATES:
Completed applications may be submitted beginning October 27, 2026. Applications will be accepted until funds are exhausted. The fees in this notice are effective October 1, 2027.
ADDRESSES:
Full funding notice is available on Rural Development's website. Program guidance and application forms may be obtained at
www.rd.usda.gov.
Entities wishing to apply for assistance may download the application documents and requirements delineated in this notice from:
rd.usda.gov/onerdguarantee.
Applications will only be accepted electronically.
Applicants are encouraged to contact their respective RD State Office for an email contact to submit an electronic application. A list of the USDA RD State Office contacts can be found at:
rd.usda.gov/about-rd/state-offices.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For information specific to this notice contact Brian Wiles, Director of the Program Processing Division, Rural Business Cooperative Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Stop 3201, Washington, DC 20250,
brian.wiles@usda.gov
or 202-720-4053.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The full text of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is available on the Agency website.
Section 1001(b)(4) of the American Rescue Plan Act (Pub. L. 117-2) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to “ . . . make loans and grants and provide other assistance to maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency.” Given this authority, and appropriation provided for this purpose in Section 1001, Paragraph (a), at least $5 billion in loan level is being made available for the SPUR Guaranteed Loan Program beginning in FY 2027. SPUR is designed and implemented in a manner similar to the Business and Industry (B&I) Guaranteed loan program with minor changes to meet the needs of the American beef industry and ranchers, and guaranteed loans made under this program are administered under 7 CFR part 5001 (OneRD Guaranteed Loan Program), as amended or supplemented by the NOFO.
The primary purpose of SPUR is to support the American Meat, Poultry, and Seafood Processing Industries by increasing processing capacity and promoting more competition in the sector, which is particularly vulnerable to disruption, consolidation, and concentration. SPUR funds will help the American protein processing industries diversify the Meat, Poultry, and Seafood supply chains and open local market opportunities. The intent is to diversify processing with value-added streams of business to increase resiliency and sustainability.
SPUR will provide financial assistance through loan guarantees designed to facilitate access to affordable capital through lenders providing loans to entities seeking to establish, reopen, retrofit, expand, or improve a Meat, Poultry, or Seafood Processing facility in America's rural or urban areas, as there are no geographic restrictions for the program.
As set forth in 7 CFR part 5001, the Agency is authorized to charge a guarantee fee, a periodic guarantee retention fee, a fee for the issuance of the loan note guarantee prior to construction completion and establish a loan guarantee percentage for guaranteed loans made under this rule. The guaranteed loan guarantee fee, annual guarantee service fee, and fee for the issuance of the Loan Note Guarantee prior to completion of construction will correspond to the fees in effect for the Business & Industry (B&I) Guaranteed Loan Program under OneRD. The lender must hold a minimum of 10 percent of the total loan amount. Pursuant to this and other applicable authority, and subject to the current appropriated authority, the Agency is establishing the following for FY 2027:
Loan type
Guarantee
fee
Periodic
guarantee
retention fee
Loan
guarantee
percentage
Fee for issuance of loan
note guarantee prior to
construction completion
Use this for formal legal and research references to the published document.
91 FR 67540
Web Citation
Suggested Web Citation
Use this when citing the archival web version of the document.
“Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Strengthening Processing for US Ranchers (SPUR) Guaranteed Loan Program for Fiscal Year 2027 and Guarantee Fee Rates/Loan Guarantee Percentage and Fee for Issuance of Loan Note Guarantee Prior to Construction Completion,” thefederalregister.org (October 27, 2026), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2026-21858/notice-of-funding-opportunity-for-the-strengthening-processing-for-us-ranchers-spur-guaranteed-loan-program-for-fiscal-y.
www.rd.usda.gov
Pub. L. 117-2
7 CFR part 5001