RESOURCE TOOLKIT
OVERVIEW
USDA GRANTS & LOANS
THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE NETWORK
RESOURCES
MARKETPLACE
REGULATORY
PLANT DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
VALUE OF BYPRODUCTS
Building a meat plant is no easy job. Even commercial contractors may not be familiar with the ins and outs of building a food processing plant that needs to be constantly washed down, contains rooms held at -20˚F, and has 1,000+ lb. carcasses hanging from rails throughout the plant. Much information concerning building meat plants is proprietary. Here are the best resources we know about that are publicly available.
Texas A&M University – So You Want to Build a Slaughter Plant
USDA: An Introduction to Mobile Slaughter Units
Design Considerations for the Construction and Operation of Meat and Poultry Processing Facilities
Guide to Designing a Small Red Meat Plant (With Two sizes of Model Designs)
Iowa State University — University Extension
This guide provides insight into small-scale meat processing plant planning and presents two models for a case study. The content of this book and these plans presented are for initial design use and not for construction.
Building an On-farm
Poultry Processing
Facility
Meat processing plant survival: The role of plant and regional characteristics
Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (JAAEA)
Federal and state governments are making major investments in expanded meat processor capacity and improved industry resilience. To improve decision‐making, this research identifies characteristics related to the probability of meat processing plant survival using hazard analysis and establishment‐level data on US meat processors (including beef, pork, goat, lamb, and mutton, and large game processors) 1997–2020.
Note: Additional Information is available on the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network website. The American Association of Meat Processors also has extensive information and resources in the members-only section of its website.