Developing a small meat processing facility probably isn’t what the average person would envision for post-retirement. Dave Endicott didn’t envision it either.
Yet, five years after stepping down from a career in higher education, he is overseeing the grand opening of a new processing facility established by Minnesota Farmers Union Foundation in Staples, MN.
Dave spent 30 years in K-12 and higher education, culminating as the Dean at Central Lakes College in Staples, MN. There, he developed a Meat Cutting and Butchery Program to address the need for skilled professionals to replace the aging butcher workforce in the upper Midwest.
When the COVID-19 Pandemic revealed structural flaws in the large-scale meat-processing industry, Minnesota Farmers Union (MFU) began examining how its members were affected. Livestock producers in the five-county region of Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd, and Wadena Counties noted that the lack of USDA-inspected meat processing capacity and custom-exempt processors severely hampered them. The organization began to explore how it could address those needs.
Dave was thinking about retirement when he and MFU President Gary Wertish began discussing the challenges posed by the shortage of processing facilities and skilled workers. Soon, Dave joined the organization as director for special projects.
“Originally, this was just going to be two Friesla trailers (modular units to be used as a training program),” Endicott said. “After the Pandemic, it was evident that there was more need.”
Farmers Union’s Foundation successfully applied for a $4 million Economic Development Administration grant to start developing its facility. Along the way, they also received a $100,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and a $600,000 grant under USDA’s Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program.
“What started as a mobile slaughter trailer grew into a 50-ft. harvest trailer that is now housed in a 10,000 sq/ft. processing facility,” he explained.
Farmers Union hired Robb Kasal, an experienced meat industry professional, to manage the new facility. Robb noted that the marriage of a mobile processing trailer and a brick/mortar processing facility provides greater flexibility to better serve farmers throughout the region.
The unit's harvest floor and drip cooler can handle up to 15 head per day. It is docked at the facility in Staples and is available for training purposes for Ridgewater College and Central Lakes College. The organization is initially operating as a custom-exempt business but hopes to obtain a USDA Grant of Inspection in the next two months.
Kasal explained, “We are starting by offering custom exempt processing but with USDA inspection, we can enable those farmers that sell their products to retail stores and restaurants, and across state lines.”
The business is also working to develop a line of Minnesota Farmers Union-branded products at some point in the future.
“We have a retail space in our facility, where we can start building a brand,” Kasal said. “Then we can develop a line of products for distribution down the road. Five years from now, we’d like to have the capacity to make ready-to-eat products and to be selling products under our own name.”
Endicott noted that the new enterprise is coming to fruition with substantial outside support.
In addition to the grant funding that helped underwrite the construction costs, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has been instrumental in guiding them through the process of obtaining a Grant of Inspection. Endicott said that he has also relied on Flower Hill Institute Regional Director Chris Roper for advice throughout the process of constructing the facility and acquiring the equipment.
MFU President Wertish noted, “A meat processing facility is a critical asset for farmers who want to add value to their farm by adding livestock. The opening of Farmers Union Processing + Meats is a celebration of persistence and working together to create a more resilient local food system.”
