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Subject: Market Farming

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  • From: "Rick Williams" <mrfarm AT frontiernet.net>
  • To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Direct Marketing Meat
  • Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 22:06:32 -0600

Phil wrote:
>>>>>I have never heard of a state that allows home slaughter. Doesn't all
meat product have to be either State inspected plant or USDA inspected plant
or buthcher shop.
That is the laws in our state for all meat product.

=========
Rick's Reply:

As many of you know, we direct market beef from the farm, but of course we
also try and sell halves and split halves that are picked up by the customer
at the processing plant. Fewer and fewer customers are able to buy such
large amounts of beef since most people no longer have freezers to store
such a large quantity.

With our Wisconsin Retail Food Establishment license, we then can also have
the beef processed at the plant and then sell packages and individual cuts
here on the farm. There is no way to sell most farm animals that are
processed unless they are either federally or state inspected.

You can sell a live animal in Wisconsin but the buyer can not process it on
your property. However, we did ask at a recent direct market meat seminar
that Judy and I attended, as to whether they could rent land and process on
the rented land. The answer is that normally they could not, IF the land was
being rented for the purpose of the processing. BUT, IF, the customer rented
land for such things as another purpose, e.g., gardening, then it could be
considered legal for the customer to process on the property assuming they
did not violate any other zoning laws.

With poultry, the maximum annual processing numbers that can be done on-farm
is 20,000 for the federal rules. But each state has its own limits and they
are often much lower, as I believe we are only at 1,000 here in Wisconsin. I
understand that Illinois changed the rules and actually increased the number
of poultry to 5,000 in 1999 after they found that the on-farm processing can
be as clean as a USDA plant. So lobbying your government might be wise. But
I would do it as a group effort for your state.

Source: http://www.wisc.edu/cias/pubs/briefs/057.html

Sincerely,

Rick Williams
Misty Ridge Farm
Dairy heifers and dairy beef graziers
Viroqua, WI

www.mistyridgefarm.com





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