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Meat processors


sheep_herder

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I haven't gathered that many here are hunters, so lack of meat processing facilities may not be a problem in your area. It has turned into a very big problem in our area. One local establishment has gone more commercial, providing meat to stores, etc. and is not processing game animals or local livestock butchering needs. If one calls other places now, there is a year or more wait on killing and processing. Seems like they all got together and processed the fair animals for the buyers, but not so much for regular folks. Luckily, I have killed and processed sheep and goats in the past, but not so much any more. Many process their game animals, but often use the processing plants for grinding meat. Now, there may be a run on meat grinders and vacuum packaging machines to take care of the short fall in processing plants. Locally they have seen the need, and have installed a meat processing program at the local community college with internships at different processing plants across the state. Just another sign of the times.

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Had this conversation with a friend that got into raising beef and chickens for the freezer for the first time this year.  He was checking a few months ago and the processors were booked out to January - February.  It appeared to be a COVID thing.  He is confident in doing a bunch of chickens this fall but would really like to but some beef in the freezer before winter.  Not happening. 

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IF HoSmudge decides to take a deer this fall, he can process it. 

As far as deer go, many people have been looking for facilities that guarantee hunters get their harvested meat. Places are taking in a whole deer and giving back some venison.... don't know who's deer kill you're getting. Nope.

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Is this a general market change, or Covid related changes?  If some of the larger plants were closed or operating shortened schedules, companies could turn to the smaller plants which normally handled smaller orders. 

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3 minutes ago, Kirby said:

Is this a general market change, or Covid related changes?  If some of the larger plants were closed or operating shortened schedules, companies could turn to the smaller plants which normally handled smaller orders. 

We really do not have any of the larger plants in our region. Most towns have one or more processing plants, but not all are USDA inspected, which affects the potential to sell the processed meat.

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"I haven't gathered that many here are hunters, so lack of meat processing facilities may not be a problem in your area."

Deer and bear have been overrunning Maryland and Northern Virginia in the 2000's and hunting seasons have been expanded and encouraged - including bow hunting on the property of Fort Meade.  So there's lots of hunting going on, but I haven't heard of any facility problems.

My brother and brother-in-law hunt deer. I haven't done so for decades and was only doing rabbits and squirrels anyway.

They drop the deer off at the facilities, get the chunks packaged, and I'm gifted a few pounds of venison which is all I need for a change of pace.

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1 hour ago, MickinMD said:

"I haven't gathered that many here are hunters, so lack of meat processing facilities may not be a problem in your area."

Deer and bear have been overrunning Maryland and Northern Virginia in the 2000's and hunting seasons have been expanded and encouraged - including bow hunting on the property of Fort Meade.  So there's lots of hunting going on, but I haven't heard of any facility problems.

My brother and brother-in-law hunt deer. I haven't done so for decades and was only doing rabbits and squirrels anyway.

They drop the deer off at the facilities, get the chunks packaged, and I'm gifted a few pounds of venison which is all I need for a change of pace.

The area around Ft Belvoir was crawling with deer in the 80’s.   The base was too small to allow hunting but it didn’t stop people from poaching on our back perimeter and rumor has it an MP or two had bagged a deer... 

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Since covid hit ours have been very busy.  A couple of dad's on Emmy's old team are farmers and have cows.  We get a 1/2 beef every year from them.  They have really had to work to find places to take the cattle.  It was March and they were making December appointments.  

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