MeatandPoultryProcessingCapacityTechnicalAssistance

Smaller Processors Help Buffer the Impact of Large Packers Fleeing Town

Large packing plants seem to be falling like dominoes across rural America. 

In recent months, Tyson Foods has closed a plant in Nebraska, reduced a Texas facility to one shift, announced the closure of another plant in Illinois and the elimination of case-ready operations in Utah, and put a Washington state plant up for sale. Meanwhile, JBS is eliminating slaughter operations at a facility it owns in Pennsylvania.

Cattle ranchers and feeders supplying those plants now must figure out where they can feasibly ship their animals for harvest.

Century-Old Legacy at Johnston’s Meat Market Continues with New Owners

Johnston’s Meat Market is more than just a butcher shop and retail store in Monticello, Florida: It is a proud local institution with a century-long legacy. 

One hundred years ago, Felix and Alice Johnston founded the market when most families lacked refrigeration. Johnston’s offered meat locker rentals to local residents and quickly became a trusted source for locally produced meat. For more than 98 years, three generations of the Johnston family carefully managed and grew the business, serving beef, lamb, and goat producers throughout a three-state region with USDA-inspected processing.