Group puts efforts into The Inland Northwest organic meat processing plant

In the first leg of a push to build a local meat processing plant, a group of northern Idaho organic producers have banded together as The Inland Northwest Specialty Meat Processing Working Group.

Organized last October, the group has since adopted a goal to promote the development of one or more regional U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected meat-processing, slaughter facilities.

By Cathy Roemer
Ag Weekly correspondent

http://www.agweekly.com/commodities/cattle/index.asp?StoryID=597

(Thanks to Malcolm Dell for passing this along- Russ)

The hoped for facility would serve specialty meat producers’ needs to process natural, grass-fed and organic meat animals including poultry.

Committee member, Skeeter Lynch, Potlatch, Idaho, said organic meat producers in the area have long recognized the need for a more centrally located processing facility. The group organized in response to that need.

The growers’ committee hopes to receive $50,000 in grant money they applied for this spring to fund a feasibility study.

According to Lynch, the study will investigate the possible success of a mobile and/or stationary USDA-certified slaughtering facility. Location, too, will be a prime focus because the facility would seek to serve producers in north central Idaho, eastern Washington and northeast Oregon.

"This has been such an issue for so long," Lynch said. "So many ranchers are hanging on the edge financially. It (the facility) has got to happen."

The lack of USDA-inspected processing facilities within a reasonable driving distance can create economic hardship for producers.

"Hauling animals long distances to processing plants is a horrendous situation," she said. "It is hard on the animals and affects the quality of the product."

In addition, processing plants specialize in various finished products, so producers may end up trucking meat to several places just to get the final product they want to sell, she said.

Moreover, "An organic-certified processing plant would place organic products as a primary emphasis rather than the leftovers," said Macolm Dell, committee member from Orofino, Idaho.

"Organics have long been treated as the lost half-brother," he added.

Although Dell is not an organic grower, he specializes in promoting producers and their niche markets. He is also a gourmet-food distributor and is part of Taste of Idaho, a company that sells Idaho-grown products.

Dell said there is a great need for local USDA-inspected meat processors.

"Slaughter facilities have been dropping right and left," he said, leaving many producers in the lurch.

Working on the committee with small farmers and ranchers gives him an opportunity to help organic producer realize premium prices for their products, he said.

Lynch said she has no doubt a local facility will be a financial boost to organic meat producers.

"This whole movement is producer driven," she said. "We have so much demand for local meat, so we know the market is there."

Chip Lawrence raises certified-organic, grass-fed beef on his 210 acre Selkirk Ranch in Sandpoint, Idaho.

Lawrence said he believes grass fed animals "provide the best product for today’s health-conscious consumer."

He owns a herd of 26 registered Red Angus cow that will calve this spring. and his first organic beef crop is set for shipment the following year.

He said he welcomes the idea of local meat processing and is also organizing a cooperative or association to go one step further and market organic products.

"Organic producers cannot compete with the commercial market, as our costs are significantly higher," Lawrence said. "Our product cannot be shipped and processed through feedlots, nor can we use non-organic herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, growth hormones or antibiotics."

He said while he views the organic producer’s relationship as "highly in concert with the traditional cattle-producing ranches, our paths diverge in what we see as the best product."

Lynch agrees a locally owned, producer-run facility will meet the needs of Lawrence and other organic producers.

"We know what a good quality product looks like, and we know we can deliver it," she said.