Small meat processors are an important part of local supply chains, and they have also felt the weight of the economy. This is why researchers are taking lessons learned from the COVID era and applying them to the issues they are seeing now.
Jen Wagner with the Ag Utilization Research Institute says COVID put a lot of pressure on local processors and helped them see areas needing improvement. As demand grows, they want to be better prepared. A recent study found issues with facilities, federal funding opportunities, and a shortage of inspectors. It is why they have developed a new system to see where they stand compared to others in the industry.
“And processors can sign up to be a part of that effort, where then they can look at exactly how their business compares to their peers across a number of financial measures. And that gives them ways that they can look at, ‘Okay, well, maybe my pricing is out of whack compared to my peers, so what can I do?’ There’s a lot of money coming out of the federal government over the past several years as well as our state government focused on very small and small meat processors. And a lot of those dollars have helped to tackle a lot of those operational efficiencies, such as cold storage and investing in their facilities, expansion, and even in some cases, building new facilities.”
USDA has been holding a series of round table discussions across the country recently, aimed at helping folks wanting to start a meat and poultry processing business. It is an effort backed by Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, who says he wants to see more locally-owned meat processing plants that can help create new jobs in rural areas.
