If I raise & sell meat, cows, pigs, chickens, turkey's etc, do I need permits from whatever state Im living in?? Arizona, Thankyou in advance

-- Beginner (no mail@home.com), February 20, 2001

Answers

Response to Selling meat

I believe in most states it is a function if you sell them alive or dead.

-- Lynn Goltz (lynngoltz@aol.com), February 20, 2001.

Usually you can sell meat animals live with no requirements. We take ours to the butcher, the buyer pays the processing and picks up the meat. If you sell processed meat you will probably have to meet production facility guidelines and process the animals at a state inspected butcher. These are set up to serve the big boys, so maybe prohibitive for small scale operations. We heard over $2 per chicken, so even selling at premium organic prices it's a huge chunk of overhead!

-- David C (fleece@eritter.net), February 20, 2001.

Joel Salatin sells his pasture-raised broilers live, then the buyer pays a separate fee for their processing them while they wait. For the meat he sells at a farmers' market, it has to come from a state- inspected facility.

There are three levels of inspection. All meat from a custom butcher/processing plant/meat locker must be stamped as not for resale. Meat from a state-inspected plant can be sold retail but only within that state. Meat from a federal-inspected plant can be sold retail interstate. This is why most small producers are forced to sell live animals and then the customer arranges for processing.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 20, 2001.

I'm with David C. on the butcher kill it, deal. We just took 4 pigs to the local butcher. The kids help load, and say good riddance, the butcher does all the dirty work at his place, four of our friends split two of the pigs, and DW and I get two for our family. The four friends even call the butcher, and specify what cuts of meat they want, or if they would like certain parts smoked. Then the butcher calls us when everything's ready for pick up, and we get it and deliver it to everybody. We work it out so that our two pigs are free. (feed, butchering, etc.) Fresh meat that we know ate HEALTHY feeds, comes home in nice white paper wrapping, and everybody's happy. Country living at it's best.

-- Action Dude (theactiondude@yahoo.com), February 20, 2001.