Is lamented in USA Today. The closing of small, USDA inspected plants is a sad matter for farmers who wish to participate in the local food movement. A couple years back we sold some pork the boss raised at what was at the time a premium price. We could have sold much more than we did and we could easily raise more. However, with the threat of new rules putting even more small slaughter houses out of business, we have backed off from the pig project.
Interestingly the article quotes a local lady who has been very active in matching farmers with facilities and markets. Nice to see her efforts getting some real attention.
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That is a shame. We have some around here still.
Some farmers are selling bulk beef freezer packages directly.
Unfortunately, I do not have a freezer.
We have two in our area and they say it is a constant struggle.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/
a friend just posted an article on facebook that is about animal cruelty on a farm in ohio. apparently, some animal activist group is targeting small farms and sending people undercover, where they video things and try to find a way to put the farm out of business. if the animal abuse is real in this case, that's one thing... but if you hire people, be very careful - i'm very aware that it's possible to make things look WAY worse than they are if you want something to show on the news.
there is no packing houses that process pork in Florida. My husband used to haul pigs for a large farm here and they were hauled to Georgia. The pig farmer went out of business now.
The problem is country wide. I am down to one USDA processing facility and anything I sell retail has to be USDA inspected. Being the only one, they can and do charge what they want.
The shop I have always used stopped the USDA inspection because it was so costly and the paperwork was ridiculous. They still do wholesale and I prefer to sell my animals by the half/whole and have them do our work.
FC, it is a great loss for both farmers and consumers. You can't beat farm raised meats...I mean farm raised by someone who cares about quality and knows their customer....and how do you live without a freezer? We have two and could use another a lot of the time. lol
LInda, it is such a shame. We are out of home raised beef and forced to buy at the store and it is not even remotely the same.
Ericka, I saw that video. It was the most sickening outrage...couldn't watch it all the way through the first time. I had to just shut it off. I truly believe that the animal rights folks seek out these monsters and pay them to perpetrate the horrors that they do. It makes me so mad that people who work hard to do a good job get tarred with the same brush as bastards like that guy! It as if people saw an incident of egregious road rage and said that cars should be banned...doesn't make much sense but that is what they want for dairy because they go out and find sickos like that guy. Arggghhhhh.....
Anon, such a sad situation even for consumers who have no access to high quality home raised meat products
Deb, you are right, it is the same all over. Every time we find a place that does things the way we like them they either ditch USDA, go out of business or raise their prices out of reach.
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