Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced that the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has awarded 26 Choose Iowa Value Added Grants to Iowa farmers, small businesses and non-profits in 22 counties totaling $463,000. One of the awards will go toward a project in Hamilton County. Treasure Acres of Blairsburg will receive a grant for $3,762 to construct an indoor bee overwintering facility to improve colony management and survival success rates for bees. The total project budget for the Treasure Acres project is set at $7,524. The Choose Iowa announcement was made as part of Iowa Ag Week during an event at Cortum Farm and Company, outside of Indianola, one of the 2024 grant awardees. Choose Iowa is the state’s signature brand for Iowa grown, Iowa raised and Iowa made products. These cost-share grants which match up to $25,000 per project were created to assist Iowa farmers,businesses and non-profits increase or diversify their agricultural product offerings, expand markets and shorten supply chains..