Dear Friend,
According to our recent member survey, two-thirds of our livestock producer members are having to wait six months to over a year to get their animals into processing facilities. This puts a heavy burden on these farmers who must then continue to feed and care for their animals without any additional compensation, which can really drain a small farm’s funds when profit margins are already tight.
A few small farmers in Michigan, some of them FTCLDF members, banded together to form Washtenaw Meats as a solution to their problem. You see, processors have long provided larger producers priority, but the problem increased when some larger processing facilities closed due to COVID and large farms began to get their animals processed by smaller processing facilities. This posed a problem for some small livestock farmers who could no longer obtain processing appointments within reasonable timeframes. With Washtenaw Meats, these small farmers can guarantee a steady stream of livestock to be processed at facilities so that they can more easily compete with larger farms.
At recent events, I’ve heard of some local farmers banding together for a shared mobile processing unit and others pooling their funds and skills to build a custom facility.
Livestock producers: Have you come up with a similar solution? If so, what is it? I’d love to hear about it!Outreach & Communications Coordinator |
