A local business in Guthrie County was recently announced as a recipient of a newer grant that promotes agricultural products and small businesses.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) awarded 33 Choose Iowa Value-Added Grants and one of those businesses is Early Morning Harvest in Panora. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says the Choose Iowa Value-Added Grants are meant to increase or diversify agricultural businesses’ product offerings, expand markets and shorten supply chains. According to IDALS, Early Morning Harvest received $25,000 to be used towards adding a semi-automatic bag filler for retail sized bags of flour and a pneumatic conveying product mover, which the grand total was $53,888. IDALS says that 33 Choose Iowa value-Added Grants had been awarded to farmers and farming businesses in 28 Iowa counties for a total $463,000.