MPPTA Technical Support

Technical Assistance for Meat & Poultry…and Catfish?

We’ve been operating at the Meat and Poultry Processing Technical Assistance Program since March 2022. Describing our work as Meat and Poultry…and Catfish Technical Assistance may be more accurate.

About 20 years ago, when imported catfish-like products undercut domestic catfish producers, the sector successfully petitioned Congress to declare catfish as an Amenable Species. That brought catfish under USDA jurisdiction, and today it is still the only aquatic species processed under FSIS inspection.

Consumer Demand a Steady Beacon Amid Economic Uncertainty

The only thing certain for smaller meat and poultry processors is uncertainty.

As noted by Drs. Marty Matlock of the University of Arkansas and Darrell Peel of Oklahoma State University in a Flower Hill Institute online roundtable, processors are being buffeted by increasing equipment and construction costs, workforce uncertainty, extremely tight cattle supplies, and other factors.