Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
• A custom butcher is only licensed to butcher and process animals that will be consumed
by the person who owns the animal. The meat cannot be sold to consumers. When the
pig is butchered, the meat is packaged and labeled as “Not For Sale.” Custom processing
facilities are inspected and required to meet sanitary conditions and some of the same la-
beling and storage requirements of the USDA.
• The rules for state-inspected facilities vary somewhat from state to state but, generally,
meatbutcheredandprocessedbyastate-inspectedfacilityonlycanbepackagedandsold
inside that state. About half of the states in the United States have this kind of state in-
spection system in place. The state inspection system must be “at least equal to” the reg-
ulations and guidelines provided by the USDA.
• If you wish to have your pigs butchered and processed at a USDA-inspected facility, then
the animals will need to be inspected both before and after butchering by a USDA-cer-
tified inspector. USDA inspection does cost more, but you will be able to sell your meat
anywhere in the United States. There is a per-animal fee as well as any additional costs
from extra package labeling, however the additional marketing opportunities often make
USDA inspection worth the cost. Many restaurants and grocery stores prefer to purchase
meats that have the USDA seal of approval.
Processing fees, which includes killing your pigs, can cost from around $20 to $60 per animal
for large hogs. There is also a processing fee for the dressed weight of the pig. This fee is usu-
ally 30 to 45 cents per pound. There may be further fees for more processing, such as curing,
boning, or smoking the pork.
There are currently few organic butchering and processing facilities in the United States.
Some of them can process both organically raised and nonorganically raised pigs. However,
the processing tools and all of the equipment used must be cleaned between processing the or-
ganic and nonorganic meats in order to keep the organic meat separate. Prices for processing
at organic facilities can be much higher. When pork is processed to meet organic standards, it
cannot contain any synthetic artificial ingredients, additives, or preservatives. There is typic-
ally minimal processing. The materials used for packaging cannot contain synthetic fungi-
cides or preservatives. And there must be specific labeling that identifies the meat as organic
according to USDA labeling requirements. According to the USDA, no claims can be made
on the labeling that organic pork is in some way inherently better than pork produced by oth-
er, more traditional methods of production. If you are interested in finding an organic pro-
