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.
That’s a high hurdle for many smaller processors who want to market their products into a regional grocery or restaurant chain or capture value for offal ingredients and hides.
Even smaller grocery chains require a relatively high volume of meat and poultry on a year-round basis to keep their cases stocked and their customers happy. That’s simply beyond the capacity of a smaller processor.
But what if…
