Pardue Grain set for $6.4 million upgrade

Roger and Lisa Sammons, owners of Pardue Grain, Inc., have been awarded a $5 million loan from the USDA Rural Development Program to assist Pardue Grain, Inc. in financing an upgraded pulse crop processing facility. The facility will sort, size, bag and clean food product in Cut Bank.

U.S. Senator Jon Tester partnered with the local producers to help secure the loan financing. The USDA Rural Development Program will provide a loan of $5 million towards the total $6.4 million cost of upgrading the crop processing facility.

“Pardue Grain is going to be able to increase Montana producers’ access to foreign and domestic markets for value-added and Montana-branded products. Pardue Grain is creating jobs and paying higher wages on the Blackfeet Reservation and in Glacier County,” said Roger Sammons earlier this week.

The project will be located along the rail line west of Cut Bank and within the boundaries of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The new pulse crop processing center is expected to add eight new jobs and will be available to local farmers.

He continued, “I gladly thank Senator Jon Tester and all of Montana’s state and federal legislators who support this program and the good it does for our community by creating jobs and paying higher wages in the region.”

“This funding will not only support current farmers in North Central Montana, it will create new, good paying jobs,” said Tester. “Agriculture is the backbone of Big Sky Country and I’m glad to see the USDA recognize hard working Montanans and provide new opportunities for rural Montana.”

“The Blackfeet Nation congratulates Roger Sammons and Pardue Grain, Inc. for obtaining this loan guarantee and we look forward to continuing our partnership to provide adequate wage jobs, enhance business and increase opportunities on the Reservation and Glacier County,” said Blackfeet Chairman Harry Barnes. “The Tribe thanks Senator Tester for his persistent hard work, support and encouragement to spur the agriculture industry in our area.”

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