The Value-Added Agricultural Products and Processes Financial Assistance Program seeks to increase the innovative utilization of Iowa's agricultural commodities. It accomplishes this by investing in the development of new agri-products and new processing technologies.

VAAPFAP may assist projects in two primary categories and a third secondary category:

  • Innovative Products and Processes encourages the processing of agricultural commodities into higher-value products not commonly produced in Iowa, or utilizing a process not commonly used in Iowa to produce new and innovative products from agricultural commodities.
  • Renewable Fuels and Co-Products encourages the production of renewable fuels, such as soy diesel and ethanol, and co-products for livestock feed.
  • A third category, Project Creation Assistance, is also available for projects that may be ineligible under the regular program due to their "precommercial" status. Project Creation Assistance is limited to projects within certain designated Strategic Initiatives.

Program Eligibility Requirements:

  • The proposed project must be located in Iowa.
  • The business must have a business plan demonstrating a viable market, and managerial and technical experience.
  • The business should also have completed a feasibility study documenting the viability of the proposed start-up business.

Projects are also evaluated according to the following criteria:

  • The degree to which the facility will increase the utilization of agricultural commodities produced in the state.
  • New and innovative
  • Feasibility
  • The proportion of local match to be contributed to the project.
  • The level of need of the region where the existing facility is, or the proposed facility is to be located.
  • The degree to which the facility produces a co-product that is marketed in the same locality as the facility.

Any single project may apply for up to $525,000 in assistance. Financial assistance is provided in the form of loans and forgivable loans. Generally, assistance of $20,000 or more is usually awarded as a combination of loans and forgivable loans, with the forgivable portion decreasing as the award size increases.

Additional Information (The following are in Adobe PDF format. In order to view the PDF you will need to download and install Adobe's Acrobat Reader from here).