Livestock producer Eric Klein of Hidden Stream Farm describes why and how his family launched its own meat processing business. It’s been a financial and logistical challenge, but a few years down the road it’s already producing benefits for their farm as well as the local community. If you’re thinking of getting into small-scale meat processing, or are just producing meat for local markets, this is a must-listen podcast.
Resources Related to Local Meat Processing:
- COVID-19 and Local Meat Processing in the Midwest: Challenges and Emerging Business Practices — featuring eight case studies
- MDA AGRI Value-Added Grant Program — The AGRI Value-Added Grant helps Minnesota processors add value to Minnesota agricultural products by investing in the purchase of equipment, production capacity, market diversification, and market access for value-added products
- Minnesota Department of Agriculture — Starting a Meat & Poultry Processing Business
- Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture — meat and poultry resource page
- Map of Minnesota Meat Processors
- Niche Meat Processing Assistance Network
- Community-Based Meat Processing as a Public Good — a blog by farmers LeeAnn & Jim VanDerPol
You can find LSP Ear to the Ground podcast episodes on Spotify, Stitcher, iTunes, and other podcast platforms.
