The USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS)-sponsored webinars on mobile slaughter for meat and poultry were a part of the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative and were held to provide producers considering this activity some guidance in overcoming the many obstacles in getting a viable, profitable mobile slaughter unit established.

Each session was recorded and can be viewed via the Internet at:

• FSIS Red Meat Mobile Slaughter Unit Webinar, January 20, 2010
• FSIS Poultry Mobile Slaughter Unit Webinar, January 21, 2010

When you get to these sites, the meeting number and passcode are already entered, but you will have to enter your name, email address, etc. to proceed to the presentation.
 

Related Links

• Find a Meat Processor Near You, Iowa State University and eXtension.
• Going Mobile, Rural Cooperatives magazine, Rural Development, USDA, 2010 - Cooperatives operate traveling slaughter units to help grow local foods movement.
• A Movable Beast, New York Times, 2010 - Bill and Jim Eklund process cattle in a Modular Harvest System near their farm in Stamford, New York.
• Merrigan says mobile slaughter units have a role, Brownfield Ag News for America, 2010 - Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan addresses mobile slaughter facilities. Includes a four and a half minute interview.
• Mobile Meat Processing Project, Nebraska Environment Action Coalition - Consolidation of the meat processing industry in recent years has resulted in fewer locations where animals can be processed under USDA inspection. This has created a major obstacle for producers who lack the resources to transport small numbers of animals long distances. and would prefer to avoid the stress that is placed on the animals.
• Mobile Processing Units Strengthen Regional Food Systems, National Institute of Food Agriculture, USDA, 2009 - A lack of government-inspected local meat processing facilities has all but smothered retail sales of local, identity-preserved meat cuts in many regions of the country.
• Mobile Poultry Processing Unit (MPPU) Training Program, Tufts University - Regulatory agencies require that producers attend a food safety and MPPU operations training to be eligible for a state slaughter license to sell birds direct to consumers.
• Mobile Slaughter, Food Law Blog, 2011 - The author, a practicing attorney, discusses the economic drawbacks of operating a viable mobile slaughter business.
• Mobile slaughter facility could help niche marketers, High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal - Montana and Wyoming do not have enough inspected slaughter plants. How could mobile processing units help this situation?
• Mobile Slaughter/Processing Units, Iowa State University Extension - Webinars, videos and case studies of operating units.
• Mobile Slaughter Unit Compliance Guide, Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), USDA, 2010 - This compliance guide helps operators of mobile slaughter units understand the regulatory requirements that pertain to them.
• USDA Identifies Gaps, Releases Maps Which Detail U.S. Local Meat Processing Facilities - A preliminary study revealing existing gaps in the regional food systems regarding the availability of slaughter facilities to small meat and poultry producers. 
• USDA Announces Availability of Compliance Guide for Mobile Slaughter Units, FSIS, USDA, 2010 - The FSIS presents these recommendations; they are not regulatory requirements.

Examples

• Lopez Community Land Trust, Washington
• Montana Poultry Growers Cooperative
• Puget Sound Meat Producers Cooperative, Washington