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I used to process chickens from my neighbors and friends in the area for a nominal fee. I would do their birds when I did my own. In this way they did not have to travel over a hour to a USDA approved processing plant, and I had to clean up after my own processing anyway.
Well this changed when the chicken hobby grew into my main source of income. Now that am officially operating under the “Producer/Grower – 1,000 Limit Exemption” from the USDA, I can no longer process other people’s chicken. That would require a different exemption, the “Custom Slaughter/Processing Exemption” and according to USDA FSIS, “However, a slaughterer or processor of poultry may not simultaneously operate under more than one exemption” (emphasis theirs).
So, I had to inform the folks that were counting on my family to process for them that I could not legally do so. They were somewhat inconvenienced but they understood that I wanted to obey the law.
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We are currently operating at the 1,000 bird or less exemption level, and as I have mentioned here before pastured poultry does well at the farmer’s markets in our area. I have thought about expanding but once again there are USDA hoops to jump through. In order to go up to the next exemption level (20,000 or less birds) I will need to construct a processing facility with separate rooms for killing/plucking the chickens and eviscerating them. Each room needs a 3-bay stainless steel sink and a hand wash sink, sealed concrete floors with drains (that lead to the required new septic system), and washable wall surfaces. Add in a walk-in cooler also. Quite honestly, this expense is way beyond what we can swing financially. I need to process and sell more birds so that I can afford the facility necessary to process and sell the extra birds. Sheesh!
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For the past few years I have been interested in making sausage. My family likes sausage and I thought that it would be fun to make it and maybe even sell some. Think of it – grass fed meats (beef, veal, pork, poultry even) made into fresh sausage without nitrates, nitrites or weird chemicals – and using good cuts, not just trimmings and such. Yummy! Pass the natural casings.
The other day I contacted our state Department of Agriculture and Markets to see what obstacles were placed in my path this time. This is what I found out:
- I would need a commercial kitchen inspection and water test to have a 20C license for direct sale to customers. (No problems here since we already do this in order to sell our breads at market.)
- Keep the sausages at 41 degrees F or less (Also not a problem, since we already keep our chickens chilled)
- All animals must be butchered at a USDA inspected processing plant and all meat, whether made into halves, quarters, or recognizable cuts, must be stamped by the processing plant. The man I spoke with was not aware of any such plant in our area but gave me an 800 number where I can ask about it. (Big problem here. I know what those places are like, that is why I do not buy meat at a store and raise and butcher my own animals)
- Separate processing facility for making sausages: 3-bay sink, hand wash sink, washable walls, etc – (Big expense - see above)
Sigh.
Years ago, Joel Salatin wrote an article for Acres USA entitled “Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal” I can relate.
It seems to me that our government has lost its sense of proportion. I don’t see why a small-time operator like me needs to go to the extremes deemed necessary for the big guys. I’m not Frank Purdue or John Morrell. I am a very small farm and always direct market to my customers. I do not plan on making a mega-corp out of my farm and do not need to make thousands of pounds of sausage every week. I just want to make ends meet and provide for my family.
I mentioned this to a farmer friend of mine. His response was that the whole idea was to keep the small farmer or businessman from succeeding. Big Farm puts lots of money into lobbying and contributions for political campaigns with the intent of keep the obstacles in the way of guys like us.
Is this true? I don’t know, but someone sure is making life difficult for this small farmer.
