New Grant Helps Beef Processors Expand and Diversify

Someone once said, “Meat processing isn’t rocket science; it’s more difficult.”

Smaller meat processors have certainly been navigating challenges in recent years that would vex the brightest aerospace engineers. Coming out of the pandemic, a severe slaughter capacity shortage threatened the viability of many ranchers. Then, just as more slaughter capacity began to emerge, Mother Nature brought on a drought that—along with screwworm and other factors—has reduced the nation’s cattle herd to the lowest level in more than a decade. And byproduct disposal is a persistent problem that keeps smaller processors at a competitive disadvantage.

Reaching A New Generation Requires New Thinking

A new generation is shopping at the meat counter these days, and connecting with the emerging generation of carnivores requires a different approach to everything from packaging to marketing.

The annual Power of Meat report, released in March, found that Gen Z and Millennials are leading all demographic categories in increasing their meat purchases, and that 36% of Gen Z and 35% of Millennials were more likely to have increased their meat consumption during the past year.