A Directory of Alabama’s Custom Livestock Slaughter and Meat Processing Facilities Agricultural Economics Departmental Series No. 44 Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama Richard Guthrie, Director December 2005 Printed in cooperation with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M Univeristy and Auburn University) CONTENTS page Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 5 Description of Study .............................................................................................................................................. 5 Description of Slaughter Industry .......................................................................................................................... 6 Alphabetical Directory of Alabama Custom Livestock Slaughter and Processing Facilities ................................ 7 County Directory of Alabama Custom Livestock Slaughter and Processing Facilities....................................... 10 Map of Alabama State and Federally Inspected Custom Livestock Slaughter and Processing Facilities ........... 11 Research contained in this report was funded by the Alabama Cattlemen’s Foundation, through contributions from the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association, the Alabama Farmers Federation, the Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce, and the United States Department of Agriculture. A special acknowledgment is extended to Freddy Daughtry and Robert Barlow with the Meat and Poultry Inspection Division of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries. Their assistance in identifying the custom livestock slaughter and processing facilities in Alabama was invaluable to the completion of this project. Additionally, appreciation is expressed to Jessica Stanford for her assistance with the manuscript. Additional information regarding this project may be accessed at http://www.ag.auburn.edu/aaes/communications/agecon/ae43meat.pdf. Information contained herein is available to all persons without regard to race, color, sex, or national origin. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work in agriculture and home economics, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, and other related acts, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M University and Auburn University) offers educational programs, materials, and equal opportunity employment to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability. Directory of Alabama’s Livestock Slaughter and Meat Processing Facilities Walt Prevatt, Deacue Fields, and Chris Kerth INTRODUCTION Alabama livestock farmers are in need of alternatives that will add value to what they produce and thereby improve their net farm incomes. The vast majority of Alabama livestock farmers are not currently being fully paid for the products they provide. Likewise, demand for the services offered by most custom livestock slaughter and processing facilities in Alabama have significantly declined over the last three decades. A number of these businesses have closed and those remaining are experiencing substantially lower volumes of business and declining net income. While livestock farmers have traditionally sold whole or half carcasses to their neighbors and other consumers, this style of marketing does not fit the lifestyles of most of today’s consumers. Only a small percentage of consumers today have large capacity freezers. Also, most consumers today prefer meals that require minimal preparation and that can be prepared quickly. As a response to this situation, some innovative livestock farmers are attempting to develop value-added markets for their meat. They would like to identify locally produced meat products that consumers would buy at a price that would cover their costs of production. This publication provides important information for individual farm families, consumers, value-added entrepreneurs, and agricultural leaders. The results presented in this publication represent one of the three objectives of the 2005 USDA grant received by the Alabama Cattleman’s Foundation entitled “Alabama-grown, forage fed beef.” The Alabama custom livestock slaughter and processing facilities are identified in this publication. Specific information pertaining to contact information (name, address, and phone number), type of inspection (state or federally inspected), and maximum weekly capacity (cattle, deer, and hogs) were collected. This information can assist livestock farmers, consumers, value-added entrepreneurs, and agricultural leaders in the development of new market opportunities for value-added products and enterprises that will enhance commerce within the state of Alabama. DESCRIPTION OF STUDY A two-page survey was developed to collect information that would help describe Alabama’s custom livestock slaughter and processing businesses. A listing of custom livestock slaughter and processing businesses was obtained from the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries. The survey instrument was developed, field tested, and distributed to 29 business firms by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the College of Agriculture at Auburn University during August 2005. The survey requested business contact information (corrected name, address, and phone number), the type of inspection status (state or federal inspection), and the maximum weekly capacity of their facility (head of cattle, deer, and hogs). This information was used to prepare alphabetical and county directories of the custom livestock slaughter and processing businesses in Alabama. After two mailings of the survey and a follow-up phone call to each non-respondent, a total of 15 respondents provided information for the directory (approximately a 52 percent response rate). The non-respondents contacted via phone gave various reasons for not participating in the survey such as: “did not have the time”; “plan to downsize business”; “plan to close their business”; “were not interested in value-added meat production or sales”; and “the information requested was confidential.” Walt Prevatt is Extension Economist and Professor and Deacue Fields is Extension Economist and Assistant Professor, respectively, in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Auburn University. Chris Kerth is a Meat Scientist and Associate Professor in the Animal Science Department, Auburn University. 6 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION DESCRIPTION OF THE SLAUGHTER INDUSTRY In 1906, the U.S. Congress enacted the country’s first meat inspection laws by requiring all meat sold to foreign countries, the federal government, and across state lines to be inspected. In 1967, the Wholesome Meat Act was passed by the U.S. Congress. This act required all meat entering commerce in the U.S. (slaughter and processing) to be inspected by standards “at least equal to” those of the federal inspection system. A provision included in the Wholesome Meat Act of 1967 allowed states to pass state laws providing guidelines to administer their own state programs that would be identical to the federal provisions. Otherwise, states choosing not to do so would be administered by the federal system. Although the state-inspected plants meet federal inspection standards, meat products from state-inspected facilities are not allowed to enter interstate commerce (cross state lines). Thus, meat from state-inspected facilities may be sold only within the state it is inspected. Today more than half of the states have opted out of state inspection programs and rely totally on federal inspection. The current federal inspection program for meat and poultry is administered through the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The FSIS is the public health agency of the USDA. FSIS conducts inspections of all raw meat and poultry sold in interstate commerce and monitors the distribution of meat and poultry products after they leave federally inspected plants. A custom meat facility is not required to be state or federally inspected when the animal to be slaughtered or the meat to be processed does not belong to the establishment and when the meat product will not enter commerce. These facilities, which offer services of livestock slaughter and/or processing on a custom basis (for owners of a product that will not enter commerce) are referred to as “custom livestock slaughter and processing facilities.” While these custom livestock slaughter and processing facilities do not require a state or federal inspection status, they are still subject to regulations by the State Department of Agriculture. In many states, the requirements and regulations for the inspected and custom meat facilities are the same. Custom meat facilities in Alabama must conform to the same federally mandated Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) as federally inspected plants. In Alabama, state and federal inspection are provided at no direct charge to the meat facility, unless it is necessary for the inspector to work overtime. In this case, the overtime costs are paid by the meat facility. Additionally, the meat facility is responsible for providing office space for the inspector. In order to receive federal inspection, a meat facility must apply to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) for a “grant of inspection” to become an “official establishment” for meat, poultry, or both. The application must specify the livestock slaughter and meat processing activities that need inspection (i.e. slaughtering, boning, fabricating, curing, formulating). The meat facility must be adequately described in a diagram or schematic with a written narrative. In order to receive a grant of inspection, the establishment must develop and implement a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan, adopt Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP), conduct E. coli tests, comply with regulations on Salmonella standards, maintain and monitor sanitary conditions, remain fit to engage in business, maintain a pest management plan, and comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards. In order to receive state inspection, a meat facility must apply to the State of Alabama, Department of Agriculture and Industries, Meat and Poultry Inspection Section, located in Montgomery, Alabama. The state inspection process requires similar documentation as with the federal inspection application. Meat entering commerce must be inspected at various stages of harvest (slaughter, processing, etc.). In addition, the facilities providing these services must be inspected at each stage. Thus, a meat facility applies for inspection for each specific operation that it wants to perform. Inspection approval is granted independently for each stage or operation. The two basic operations involved with harvesting livestock include slaughtering and processing. The slaughter operation involves killing livestock and preparing the carcass (removal of hide, feet, head, body cavity contents, etc.) to begin the processing stage. The processing operation can involve numerous possible activities or stages that may range from disassembling the carcass into subunits to making finished products (patties, luncheon meats, heat and serve products, etc.). Many terms are used in the meat industry to describe various aspects of meat processing. Common intermediate stages of meat processing include separating the carcass into primals or subprimals and/or boning which describes removing the meat from the bone to obtain boneless meat for further processing of other products. The manufacturing stage involves processing the meat (cutting, grinding, forming, cooking, packaging, etc.) into finished products such as patties, hot dogs, links, luncheon meats, heat and serve products, etc. DiIRECTORY OF ALABAMA’S LIVESTOCK SLAUGHTER AND MEAT PROCESSING FACILITIES 7 Many of the terms used by the meat industry relate directly to the types of inspection required for commercial meat sales. Thus, beef farmers and other entrepreneurs considering a value-added meat enterprise should first gain a clear understanding of the inspection programs and requirements. This will be extremely helpful to them in identifying meat facilities that can provide the required services and inspection. Alphebetical Directory of Alabama Custom Livestock Slaughter and Processing Facilities Map point1 State Federally Maximum Business (County) inspected inspected weekly capacity AA Processing 1 6520 Rd 41 (Etowah) Altoona, AL 35952 334-589-2345 Acker’s Slaughterhouse 2 11065 Pate Road (Tuscaloosa) Buhl, AL 35446 205-339-0903 Alabama Meat Processors 3 2213 West Blvd. (Montgomery) Montgomery, AL 36108 334-263-2884 Blount County Meat Processing 4S Yes Beef: 20 hd./wk. 1485 Lincoln Rd (Blount) Deer: 56 hd./wk. Oneonta, AL 35121-4324 Hogs: 30 hd./wk. 205-274-7617 Carolina Custom Meats 5 Beef: 10 hd./wk. 18551 Sugar Rd (Covington) Deer: 75 hd./wk. Andalusia, AL 36420 Hogs: 20 hd./wk. 334-222-2236 Cartee’s Slaughter House 6 Beef: 15 hd./wk. 6791 County Rd 214 (Lawrence) Deer: 40 hd./wk. Trinity, AL 35673 Hogs: 10 hd./wk. 256-974-7852 Costner’s Meats 7 8800 Highway 179 (Etowah) Boaz, AL 35956 256-593-8728 Don Heaps Slaughter House 8 Beef: 50 hd./wk. 4455 County Road 214 (Lawrence) Deer: 175 hd./wk. Trinity, AL 35673 Hogs: 50 hd./wk. 256-974-6416 Elba Custom Meat Company, Inc 9 Beef: 10 hd./wk. 405 State Road 203 (Coffee) Deer: 20 hd./wk. Elba, AL 36323 Hogs: 25 hd./wk. 334-897-2007 Florence Frozen Meats 10 1050 South Court Street (Lauderdale) Florence, AL 35630 Gary’s Custom Meat Processing 11 6695 Ala Hwy 40 (Dekalb) Valley Head, AL 35986 continued The custom livestock slaughter and processing facilities are listed in alphabetical order. A map point identifies the county in which the meat facility is located (see page 11 for location map). Map points may include a superscript which denotes “S” for state-inspected and “F” for federally inspected facilities. Map points without superscripts represent businesses that are solely custom meat facilities. 1 8 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION Alphebetical Directory of Alabama Custom Livestock Slaughter and Processing Facilities (cont.) Map point State Federally Maximum Business (County) inspected inspected weekly capacity Hall’s Cold Storage P O Box 450 Hwy 82 E. Gordo AL 35466 205-364-1403 Institutional Service Division P.O. Box 246 Elmore, AL 36025 334-567-1707 Jerry’s Slaughter House 22296 Carey Rd. Athens, AL 35611 256-232-8934 Jones Slaughter House 44 Jack Jones Rd Ariton, AL 36311 334-762-2311 Kimbrell’s Slaughter House 132 Graham Street Saraland, AL 36571 251-675-4204 Mathews Meat Market 61272 Highway 49 Lineville, AL 36266 256-396-5694 Mica Hill Quick Freeze 1084 Punkin Hill Rd. Dadeville, AL 36853 256-825-6894 Nelson’s Meat Co. Route 2 Box 140-J Andalusia, AL 36420 Nevels Custom Meats 1286 Buck Holland Road Geneva, AL 36340 334-684-0960 O’Guirre Farms Inc. 105 County Farm Road Tuscumbia, AL 35674 256-383-3190 Pikeville Deer Processing 5986 Co. Rd.21 Scottsboro AL 35768 205-259-5338 Reed’s Quick Freeze 510 Dunlap Road Clanton, AL 35045 205-755-5392 1 12 (Pickens) Beef: 40 hd./wk Deer: 200 hd./wk. Hogs: 90 hd./wk 13 (Elmore) 14 (Limestone) Beef: 12 hd./wk. Deer: 150 hd./wk. Hogs: 25 hd./wk. Yes Beef: 25 hd./wk. 15S (Dale) 16 (Mobile) 17S (Clay) Yes Beef: 30 hd./wk. Deer: 150 hd./wk. Hogs: 30 hd./wk. 18 (Tallapoosa) 19 (Covington) 20 (Geneva) Beef: 15 hd./wk. Hogs: 15 hd./wk. 21F (Colbert) Yes Beef: 15 hd./wk. Deer: 50 hd./wk. Hogs: 20 hd./wk. Beef: 15 hd./wk. Deer: 500 hd./wk. Hogs: 30hd./wk. Beef: 30 hd./wk. Deer: 200 hd./wk. Hogs: 25 hd./wk. 22 (Jackson) 23 (Chilton) continued The custom livestock slaughter and processing facilities are listed in alphabetical order. A map point identifies the county in which the meat facility is located (see page 11 for location map). Map points may include a superscript which denotes “S” for state-inspected and “F” for federally inspected facilities. Map points without superscripts represent businesses that are solely custom meat facilities. DiIRECTORY OF ALABAMA’S LIVESTOCK SLAUGHTER AND MEAT PROCESSING FACILITIES 9 Alphebetical Directory of Alabama Custom Livestock Slaughter and Processing Facilities (cont.) Map point State Federally Maximum Business (County) inspected inspected weekly capacity Richey’s Deer Processing 2050 State Street Greensboro, AL 36744 334-624-1403 Roanoke Packing Company 1004 Chestnut Street Roanoke, AL 36274 334-863-8930 Seminole Deer Processing 3746 Opelika Rd.1 Phenix City, AL 36870 334-298-1704 Terry’s Meat Processing 598 Smith Rd Blountsville, AL 35031 205-429-4263 Wilson’s Farm Meat Processing 109 Kirkland Rd. Seale, AL 36875 334-297-4663 Wiregrass Meat Processors, Inc. 824 East Main Street Headland, AL 36345 334-693-2717 1 24 (Hale) 25 (Randolph) 26 (Russell) Deer: 100 hd./wk. Hogs: 2 hd./wk. 27 (Blount) 28 (Russell) 29 (Henry) Beef: 20 hd./wk. Deer: 100 hd./wk. Hogs: 15 hd./wk. The custom livestock slaughter and processing facilities are listed in alphabetical order. A map point identifies the county in which the meat facility is located (see page 11 for location map). Map points may include a superscript which denotes “S” for state-inspected and “F” for federally inspected facilities. Map points without superscripts represent businesses that are solely custom meat facilities. 10 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION County Directory of Alabama Custom Livestock Slaughter and Processing Facilities County Map point1 County Map point1 Henry Blount S Wiregrass Meat Processors ............................... 29 Blount County Meat Processing .......................... 4 Terry’s Meat Processing ..................................... 27 Jackson Pikeville Deer Processing ................................... 22 Chilton Reed’s Quick Freze ........................................... 23 Lauderdale Clay S Florence Frozen Meats....................................... 10 Mathews Meat Market ....................................... 17 Lawrence Coffee Cartee’s Slaughter House .................................... 6 Elba Custom Meat Company................................ 9 Don Heaps Slaughter House ................................ 8 Colbert F Limestone O’Guirre Farms Inc ............................................ 21 Jerry’s Slaughter House ..................................... 14 Covington Carolina Custom Meats ........................................ 5 Mobile Nelson’s Meat Co. .............................................. 19 Kimbrell’s Slaughter House ................................ 16 Montgomery Dale Alabama Meat Processors.................................... 3 Jones Slaughter House ..................................... 15S Dekalb Pickens Gary’s Custom Meat Processing ..........................11 Hall’s Cold Storage ............................................. 12 Elmore Randolph Institutional Service Division ............................... 13 Roanoke Packing Company .............................. 25 Etowah Russell AA Processing ...................................................... 1 Wilson Farm Meat Processing........................... 28 Costner’s Meats .................................................. 7 Seminole Deer Processing ............................... 26 Geneva Tallapoosa Nevels Meat Market............................................ 20 Mica Hill Quick Freeze........................................ 18 Tuscaloosa Hale Acker’s Slaughter House ...................................... 2 Richey’s Deer Processing .................................. 24 1 The custom livestock slaughter and processing facilities are listed alphabetically by County. The map point identifies the county in which the meat facility is located (see page 11 for location map). Map points may include a superscript which denotes “S” for state-inspected and “F” for federally inspected facilities. Map points without superscripts represent businesses that are solely custom meat facilities. DiIRECTORY OF ALABAMA’S LIVESTOCK SLAUGHTER AND MEAT PROCESSING FACILITIES 11 Map of Alabama Custom Livestock Slaughter and Processing Facilities1 A map point identifies the county in which the meat facility is located (see pages 7-9 for an alphabetical directory of Alabama custom livestock slaughter and processing facilities and see page 10 for a county directory of Alabama custom livestock slaughter and processing facilities). Map points may include a superscript which denotes “S” for state-inspected and “F” for federally inspected facilities. Map points without superscripts represent businesses that are solely custom meat facilities. 1