Rebecca Thistlethwaite

NC Choices Technical Assistance Project Training Manual

In 2013-2014, NC Choices and the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network collaborated on a project to provide direct technical assistance on a range of topics to a group of small-scale meat processors across North Carolina. The goal of the project, “Supporting Sustainable Rural Economic Development through Advancement of North Carolina’s Niche Meat Industry,” was to improve the […]

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Plant Management Strategies to Reduce Fall Season Stress

Uncategorized / Rebecca Thistlethwaite

Overview Date: Sept.9, 2014 Please Note: This webinar is no longer available in video form, however, the presentation materials remain active. Small Plant Operators: do you dread the busy fall season? It can be the most lucrative time of year for small meat processing facilities but is also often the most stressful. Your plant is at

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Building the Capacity of Small Meat Processors: Successes and Lessons from North Carolina

Uncategorized / Rebecca Thistlethwaite

A Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network webinar. Date: January 7, 2015 Duration: one hour Local meat and poultry markets rely on small processors with a range of skills and services. NC Choices, an initiative of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems at North Carolina State University, spent two years working with a set of small processors

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Mobile Slaughter Units (MSUs): An International Perspective

Uncategorized / Rebecca Thistlethwaite

A Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network webinar. Date: February 18, 2015 Duration: one hour Overview: The first USDA-inspected mobile slaughter unit (MSU) for red meat species began operating in 2002. Since then, MSUs have not only evolved in size and design but have also gone international: Europe, South America, Papua New Guinea, and soon

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Open-Sourced HACCP: Making Cured Meats Production More Accessible

Uncategorized / Rebecca Thistlethwaite

A Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network webinar Date: April 23, 2015 (note: new date) Time: 10 am PST / 1pm EST for one hour To attend: Go to https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/nichemeat 5-10 minutes before start time and log in as a guest. All NMPAN webinars are free and open to the public. Overview: Many small-scale

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Increase Your Retail Sales with More Frequent Delivery

Uncategorized / Rebecca Thistlethwaite

Increase Your Retail Sales with More Frequent Delivery Nick McCann, Iowa State University Extension Nick McCann is an Agricultural Business Specialist with Iowa State University Cooperative Extension. He works with small meat plants in Iowa, helping them improve their bottom lines by identifying useful and practical changes they can make in their processes and

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Strategies to Increase Throughput

Uncategorized / Rebecca Thistlethwaite

Meat processors, like most businesses, work hard to cut costs, hoping to improve their bottom line. But while cost cutting can sometimes improve profits, too often it doesn’t get us very far. So what can? Research with small plants in Iowa indicates that increasing throughput — sales less raw materials — is almost three times

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Further Processed Meat Products

Uncategorized / Rebecca Thistlethwaite

<< Back From bacon to jerky, prosciutto and salami, further processed meat products have a strong following. Consumers like the taste, and farmers, butchers, and restaurants like turning lower end cuts into high value specialty meats. All of these products come with additional regulations and scrutiny if you wish to make them in your processing plant, butcher

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Jerky

Uncategorized / Rebecca Thistlethwaite

If you are interested in preparing jerky in your processing facility, you will need to demonstrate lethality in your jerky-making process. Typically this means cooking under controlled humidity per Appendix A, and then drying. This AskFSIS question addresses this: http://askfsis.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/902/ A few words of advice on jerky making from our listserv: “A real smokehouse

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Processing Pet Food for Sale

Uncategorized / Rebecca Thistlethwaite

This page was developed with input from experienced producers, processors, and regulators. Consumer interest in raw, local and/or organic diets for their pets has increased greatly in recent years. With Americans spending over $60 billion on their pets annually, many meat processors are looking for ways to access the growing pet food market. While customers

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NC Choices Technical Assistance Project Training Manual

Plant Management Strategies to Reduce Fall Season Stress

Building the Capacity of Small Meat Processors: Successes and Lessons from North Carolina

Mobile Slaughter Units (MSUs): An International Perspective

Open-Sourced HACCP: Making Cured Meats Production More Accessible

Increase Your Retail Sales with More Frequent Delivery

Strategies to Increase Throughput

Further Processed Meat Products

Jerky

Processing Pet Food for Sale

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