If you need more help than this website can offer, the Niche Meat Processing Assistance Network has rounded up resources for each state (or close to), called State Affiliates. We are working hard to identify a reliable affiliate for each state, but thus far only have 30 out of 50 states covered. State Affiliates are either in university extension, state departments of agriculture, or similar organizations, and regularly work with small meat processors and producers. State Affiliates should be able to provide you with state-specific answers and help you identify resources in your state. We also provide additional contact information for state and regional meat processor trade associations and other non-profits assisting small meat processors and producers.

Looking for a USDA inspected processor for red meat or poultry? See the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) database here. You can search by plant name, state, type of processing, and other parameters. If you are looking for a state inspected or a custom exempt plant, reach out to your state department of agriculture for a list of licensees.

No affiliate in your state? Help us find one.
State Affiliates are NMPAN’s “eyes and ears” on the ground and our primary contact in each state. They bring useful resources to the network’s attention, provide information and updates on niche meat processing development efforts, and keep the network relevant by identifying priority problems and challenges to niche processing.

State Affiliates usually hold positions that allow them to provide services to niche processors at low to no cost, i.e. such assistance fits clearly within their job description, for example, those who work for a state department of agriculture or university extension.

To become an NMPAN State Affiliate, please tell us about yourself and your connection with niche meat processing by emailing us [our email addresses are at the bottom of this page] some information about yourself, along with answers to the following three questions:

• How are you involved with niche meat processing?
• What are your primary processing-related challenges?
• Where have you found help meeting these challenges? (Please be as specific as possible: people, organizations, guidebooks, websites, etc.)

We look forward to hearing from you.