Meat+Poultry - July 2021 - 58

NON-TRADITIONAL PROCESSING
SLAUGHTER
on the move
Demand for mobile harvesting services is on the rise
BY KEITH LORIA | meatpoult r y@sosland.com
I
" We have
completed
two additions
to keep up
with demand;
however, we
are still at full
capacity and
each week the
demand seems
to grow. "
- MARTY PREM
n 2002, the first mobile slaughter mobile
harvest unit was approved for use by the US
Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,
the demand for mobile slaughter has
skyrocketed, as there seems to be a higher
interest in the service from smaller local
farmers who were struggling to get their
animals processed in the wake of many plants
closing or operating at lower capacities.
Chris Young, executive director of
Elizabethtown, Pa.-based American Association
of Meat Processors (AAMP), said he's seeing an
upswing in mobile slaughtering in a response to
the demand for more slaughter capacity and the
fact that it provides an affordable alternative to
companies considering constructing a brickand-mortar
building.
" COVID put a spotlight on an ongoing issue
the industry has had in recent years - we have
been losing small slaughter facilities because
of a variety of reasons and this has caused a
capacity issue, " Young said. " This became a
glaring issue when some of the larger plants
shut down because of COVID and there was
not enough capacity to fill in the gap. "
Bob Lodder, president of Friesla, Everson,
Wash., has been part of the mobile slaughter
industry for more than a decade.
" Consumers are interested in buying
food that's raised and processed locally, so
that's a factor that has contributed to more
interest, " he said. " And then, of course, there's
environmental sustainability. To avoid having
to haul animals a long distance, which is costly,
it uses up precious resources, and the animals
58 MEAT+POULTRY | 07.21 | www.meatpoultry.com
are stressed by the time they get where they're
going. That causes the quality of the meat to
go down. "
Therefore, there is a rising demand for
mobile slaughter.
" It gives the local farmers and ranchers the
ability to get their product to market at a time
that is perfect for the animal, " Lodder said.
ON THE ROAD
Prem Meats LLC, Spring Green, Wis., added
a natural harvest division in 2016 because its
meat plant didn't offer slaughtering services.
" We had been contacted for years about
why we didn't offer slaughtering, " said
Marty Prem, owner of the company. " After
some thought and meetings with our state
inspectors, we decided to try a mobile
slaughter unit. We built it with anticipations
of processing three to five beef and eight pigs
per week. "
However, the business grew quickly, and
Prem Meats quickly realized the demand for
this service was high.
" Our service comes to the farms' location,
harvests the animals and transports back to
our facility for aging and processing, " Prem
said. " We are the only state-inspected mobile
slaughter unit in Wisconsin as of today. "
Currently Prem Meats can process up to
25 beef and 30 pigs or lambs per week and
works within a 100-mile radius of its plant.
Seven employees are dedicated to the mobile
slaughter segment, and prices range from $80
for pigs to $140 for beef and 64¢ per hanging
pound for processing.
Stratton's Custom Meats
http://www.meatpoultry.com
Meat+Poultry - July 2021

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