Hello Livestock Farmers!
Please note: we do not have a processing facility...but we have compiled these resources as you try to figure out if you should open a processing space.
We're two pasture-based livestock farms in southern IN. We sell meat directly to consumers, and we struggle to find nearby, quality processing options that meet the needs of chefs and farmer's market customers. We received a grant from USDA SARE to explore opening a farmer-to-farmer butcher shop. Below, we have compiled resources to help us (and you!) plan and open a farmer-to-farmer or farmer-focused butcher shop.
A little more about our SARE project:
We've worked with lots of processors over the years. Some are great, and some just aren't focused on customer service for small farms who sell to chefs and at farmer's markets. We received a USDA SARE grant to complete a feasibility study of a farmer-to-farmer butcher shop. We're putting together floor plans, cash flow projections, and more for two very small scale butcher shops: one for 3-species, one for 5-species.
We've also been trying to share this info locally. In March of 2019, we helped lead a butcher shop tour with Purdue Extension, as part of the Indiana Small Farm Conference. In January of 2020, we presented as part of a panel at the Indiana Uplands Winter Farming Conference.
Last but not least, we worked with Indiana University on a survey of Indiana livestock farmers. We had 80 livestock producers from across the state responded. We suspect that this information could be critical to other farmers interested in opening butcher shops. Nearly every respondent (88%) cited their processing situation as a barrier to expanding their farm business. More below!
Please note: we do not have a processing facility...but we have compiled these resources as you try to figure out if you should open a processing space.
We're two pasture-based livestock farms in southern IN. We sell meat directly to consumers, and we struggle to find nearby, quality processing options that meet the needs of chefs and farmer's market customers. We received a grant from USDA SARE to explore opening a farmer-to-farmer butcher shop. Below, we have compiled resources to help us (and you!) plan and open a farmer-to-farmer or farmer-focused butcher shop.
A little more about our SARE project:
We've worked with lots of processors over the years. Some are great, and some just aren't focused on customer service for small farms who sell to chefs and at farmer's markets. We received a USDA SARE grant to complete a feasibility study of a farmer-to-farmer butcher shop. We're putting together floor plans, cash flow projections, and more for two very small scale butcher shops: one for 3-species, one for 5-species.
We've also been trying to share this info locally. In March of 2019, we helped lead a butcher shop tour with Purdue Extension, as part of the Indiana Small Farm Conference. In January of 2020, we presented as part of a panel at the Indiana Uplands Winter Farming Conference.
Last but not least, we worked with Indiana University on a survey of Indiana livestock farmers. We had 80 livestock producers from across the state responded. We suspect that this information could be critical to other farmers interested in opening butcher shops. Nearly every respondent (88%) cited their processing situation as a barrier to expanding their farm business. More below!
resources for starting a farmer-to-farmer butcher shop
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Almost every livestock farmer struggles with butchering services. In 2017, our two livestock farms partnered with a chef and set out to open a butcher shop that would work for us. A USDA SARE Farmer-Rancher Grant helped us test the feasibility of opening a butcher shop that's for farmers, by farmers. If you're on a similar path, we made this guide for you.
If you would like a print version of this guide, click here: starting_a_butcher_shop_101_-_final.pdf ASKING THE TOUGH QUESTIONSBefore digging into planning, we recommend working through some tough questions. Gather any collaborators, including your family, to ask:
Your Goals and Quality of Life
Time, Money & Resources
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Scale & Inspection
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FINDING PARTNERS AND SELECTING A SITE
Zoning
Ask if your site can host a processing facility, or if you would need a variance.
Septic and Sewer Capabilities
Find out what your scale requires, and have your septic capabilities tested. In Indiana, try https://www.oisc.purdue.edu/irss/roster.html.
Neighbors and Family
Would your facility be within sight, sound, or smell-distance of your neighbors (or your family)? If so, how can you plan for success?
Proximity to Home
Talk with your family about the pro's and con's of having a processing facility on your property.
Allies
We're working with a trusted chef on our butcher shop. His expertise and training guided our planning and research. Maybe you have a key ally, too.
Market
Identify your target customer (nearby farmers who need butchering services? Retail meat customers? other?) and assess demand for your services or products.
Consultants
The price tag might be daunting, but working with consultants can help you find answers more efficiently and add objective insights. Consider NMPAN’s list of consultants, and talk with farmer-processors in your state – they may be willing to act as a consultant.
Connecting with Regulatory Bodies
Pick up the phone and call to introduce yourself. In our experience, these folks are open and excited to talk with potential processors.
Ask if your site can host a processing facility, or if you would need a variance.
Septic and Sewer Capabilities
Find out what your scale requires, and have your septic capabilities tested. In Indiana, try https://www.oisc.purdue.edu/irss/roster.html.
Neighbors and Family
Would your facility be within sight, sound, or smell-distance of your neighbors (or your family)? If so, how can you plan for success?
Proximity to Home
Talk with your family about the pro's and con's of having a processing facility on your property.
Allies
We're working with a trusted chef on our butcher shop. His expertise and training guided our planning and research. Maybe you have a key ally, too.
Market
Identify your target customer (nearby farmers who need butchering services? Retail meat customers? other?) and assess demand for your services or products.
Consultants
The price tag might be daunting, but working with consultants can help you find answers more efficiently and add objective insights. Consider NMPAN’s list of consultants, and talk with farmer-processors in your state – they may be willing to act as a consultant.
Connecting with Regulatory Bodies
Pick up the phone and call to introduce yourself. In our experience, these folks are open and excited to talk with potential processors.
LAYOUT & EQUIPMENT
This is a fun step: what will your facility look like - and what will you be able to accomplish in the space?
Gathering Ideas - and Understanding Requirements
Floor Plan
We hired a consultant to create floor plans for an extremely small, 3-species slaughter and cut-up facility as well as a butcher-only facility, including a list of needed equipment. The floorplan is open source for you to utilize, and is available for free by clicking here. We will likely hone the plan over time, so check back for any updates.
Equipment List
We hope you will utilize, adjust, and learn from these open source materials. The list shows materials needed for a 5-species, slaughter, processing, and smoking facility (cattle, pigs, lambs, deer, poultry). It can be adapted to include fewer animals, only cut and wrap, etc. Note that this list includes the cost of purchasing equipment brand new. Farmers are often good at finding and/or repairing used equipment.
Gathering Ideas - and Understanding Requirements
- Iowa has a fantastic "Guide to Designing a Small Red Meat Plant"
- USDA provides this handout with facility guidelines. In Indiana at least, state guidelines overlap with USDA guidelines significantly.
- We highly recommend visiting nearby facilities can help generate ideas. Thanks to our SARE grant, we visited Bob's in Michigan, as well as these processors and value-added operations in Indianapolis: Smoking Goose Meatery, Moody Meats, Claus' German Sausage and Meats, and Turchetti's.
- Some processors have their floorplans online for you to learn from, like Sugar Mountain Farm.
- We hope that our floor plans will help you, too (see below!).
- Be sure to call up the fine folks who handle inspection in your state, and talk with them about the overlap between your goals, your products, and their regulations.
Floor Plan
We hired a consultant to create floor plans for an extremely small, 3-species slaughter and cut-up facility as well as a butcher-only facility, including a list of needed equipment. The floorplan is open source for you to utilize, and is available for free by clicking here. We will likely hone the plan over time, so check back for any updates.
Equipment List
We hope you will utilize, adjust, and learn from these open source materials. The list shows materials needed for a 5-species, slaughter, processing, and smoking facility (cattle, pigs, lambs, deer, poultry). It can be adapted to include fewer animals, only cut and wrap, etc. Note that this list includes the cost of purchasing equipment brand new. Farmers are often good at finding and/or repairing used equipment.
| farmer_to_farmer_butcher_shop_-_equipment_list_for_5_species_slaughter.pdf |
business PLANS & FINANCIALS
The numbers don't lie. We have tried to be honest with ourselves about the financial viability of our ideas. This can be difficult, because we know that a better butchering option would improve our quality of life and the quality of our meat. To ensure that we have thorough numbers, we hired a consultant to help us with the financials.
You can view our cash flow and financial projections below. These projections are open source, so please utilize them and adapt them to your purposes.
First, we ran the numbers for a Farmer to Farmer, slaughter and processing facility for five species (cattle, pigs, lambs, deer, and poultry).
This facility employs 4.5 people. The numbers are here:
You can view our cash flow and financial projections below. These projections are open source, so please utilize them and adapt them to your purposes.
First, we ran the numbers for a Farmer to Farmer, slaughter and processing facility for five species (cattle, pigs, lambs, deer, and poultry).
This facility employs 4.5 people. The numbers are here:
| sare_farmer_to_farmer_butcher_shop_feasibility_-_5_species.xlsx |
After seeing the numbers, we decided that this scale didn't fit our goals (investment was too high; it required more retail than we think we can support at our location; and it required us to start at full scale immediately).
We decided to look at a different option, at least to start: cut and wrap only, for three species (cattle, pigs, lambs). This facility employs 1 person (or two part-time). The numbers are here:
We decided to look at a different option, at least to start: cut and wrap only, for three species (cattle, pigs, lambs). This facility employs 1 person (or two part-time). The numbers are here:
| sare_farmer_to_farmer_feasibiity_3_species.xlsx |
We utilized a feasibility template from Rodney B. Holcomb, Kyle Flynn, and Phil Kenkel at Oklahoma State University to crunch our numbers. Here's a big thanks to them for this incredible resource! Also big thanks to Nathan Boone, the consultant who helped us crunch these numbers!
With the numbers in hand, we could craft a business plan. Max, the chef we partnered with on this project, authored the plan. It is available for download here:
With the numbers in hand, we could craft a business plan. Max, the chef we partnered with on this project, authored the plan. It is available for download here:
| farmer-focused-butcher-shop.pdf |
VOICE OF THE CONSUMER
We hope you will learn from the survey we completed with IU and farmers from across Indiana. We certainly learned about what farmers need and want! Check back - results are coming soon. In the mean time:
Consider asking potential customers some of these questions, formally or informally:
Consider asking potential customers some of these questions, formally or informally:
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If you're focused on retail meat sales, your questions for retail customers will be different. We're focused on providing cut-up services for farmers. Our questions included:
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FINDING FUNDING
Whether your facility is going to cost $75,000, $250,000 or some other amount, outside funding will be helpful. Here are a few options we're investigating for our facility:
State or Regional Grants
Indiana doesn't, but some states and regional organizations offer grants for farmers improving food infrastructure. Ask your farmer organization and your state department of agriculture.
Federal Grants
USDA's Value Added Producer Grants have funding for planning and building facilities.
We are utilizing a SARE Farmer-Rancher Grant to investigate the feasibility of our butcher shop. These grants are available to farmers doing innovative, sustainable projects throughout the country.
Loans
Revolving farmer loans, small bank loans, or FSA Microloans might be a helpful tool, too.
Cooperatives
Working together with a group of farmers may be another funding option.
State or Regional Grants
Indiana doesn't, but some states and regional organizations offer grants for farmers improving food infrastructure. Ask your farmer organization and your state department of agriculture.
Federal Grants
USDA's Value Added Producer Grants have funding for planning and building facilities.
We are utilizing a SARE Farmer-Rancher Grant to investigate the feasibility of our butcher shop. These grants are available to farmers doing innovative, sustainable projects throughout the country.
Loans
Revolving farmer loans, small bank loans, or FSA Microloans might be a helpful tool, too.
Cooperatives
Working together with a group of farmers may be another funding option.
KEY RESOURCES FOR PLANNING A farmer to farmer BUTCHER SHOP
Learning from the Past and Incorporating New Ideas
Introduce yourself to knowledge-holders in your area. Many of the older farmers still have equipment and knowledge about on-farm processing that can apply to your facility. Our parents’ stories helped us understand the community’s connection to processing and cooking – and they informed our ethos and branding.
Also reach out to the latest, greatest processors in your region. We visited processors in our tri-state region, and each one was eager to help us along our way. They offered tours, knowledge about equipment and customer demand, and regulatory insight.
Don't forget Youtube. There are fantastic videos from farmers who are paving the way, like Heritage Meats in Washington and The Healthy Butcher in Toronto.
Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network
NMPAN is the go-to resource for small, niche meat processors. We recommend grabbing a mug of tea and taking a deep dive into their website . You'll find:
Template Feasibility Studies
Oklahoma State University offers a series of spreadsheets for farmers to manipulate. This is the resource we utilized. It includes a slaughter facility (or can be adapted for cut and wrap, only).
Template Business Plans and Business Planning Resources
Don't reinvent the wheel. In addition to NMPAN's "Business Planning Guide for Small Meat Processors," there are also template business plans for agricultural businesses. These templates can walk you through the process of writing a plan, even if you've never tackled a business plan before.
Here are three options that we utilized, from Cornell's Small Farms Program (scroll about half way down the page). They can help you lay out as much (or as little) detail as you need: Type A is a basic 4-page plan, where Type C teases out more details, financials, etc. The three templates even come with instructional guides.
HACCP Plans, Food Safety, & Regulatory Compliance
No need to reinvent the wheel here, either!
Other resources you might learn from
Introduce yourself to knowledge-holders in your area. Many of the older farmers still have equipment and knowledge about on-farm processing that can apply to your facility. Our parents’ stories helped us understand the community’s connection to processing and cooking – and they informed our ethos and branding.
Also reach out to the latest, greatest processors in your region. We visited processors in our tri-state region, and each one was eager to help us along our way. They offered tours, knowledge about equipment and customer demand, and regulatory insight.
Don't forget Youtube. There are fantastic videos from farmers who are paving the way, like Heritage Meats in Washington and The Healthy Butcher in Toronto.
Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network
NMPAN is the go-to resource for small, niche meat processors. We recommend grabbing a mug of tea and taking a deep dive into their website . You'll find:
- Robust introductory resources, like a "Beginner's Guide to Local Meat Processing"
- A whole portion of the website focused on new facilities and expansions
- Help with business planning, including their "Business Planning Guide for Small Meat Processors"
- Contact information for consultants who work with meat processors
- A listserv for current and future small meat processors of all stripes. It's free to join. You can ask the group questions or just see what folks are talking about.
- Peer consulting services for current processors
Template Feasibility Studies
Oklahoma State University offers a series of spreadsheets for farmers to manipulate. This is the resource we utilized. It includes a slaughter facility (or can be adapted for cut and wrap, only).
Template Business Plans and Business Planning Resources
Don't reinvent the wheel. In addition to NMPAN's "Business Planning Guide for Small Meat Processors," there are also template business plans for agricultural businesses. These templates can walk you through the process of writing a plan, even if you've never tackled a business plan before.
Here are three options that we utilized, from Cornell's Small Farms Program (scroll about half way down the page). They can help you lay out as much (or as little) detail as you need: Type A is a basic 4-page plan, where Type C teases out more details, financials, etc. The three templates even come with instructional guides.
HACCP Plans, Food Safety, & Regulatory Compliance
No need to reinvent the wheel here, either!
- Every processing facility that's inspected must have a "Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point" plan, or HACCP plan. These can seem daunting at first. Thankfully, the good folks at University of Wisconsin have compiled food safety planning resources that farmers can adapt for their facilities. They have template HACCP plans as well as validation and documentation info.
- The USDA also offers a "Small Plant Help Desk." Check out their resources on regulatory compliance, food safety, and more. Even if you're going to create a state-inspected facility, these resources can prove useful (just be sure to cross-check what you're learning with your state officials). Our state officials in Indiana actually directed us to this useful resource
- Your state officials. In Indiana, processing is overseen by the Indiana Board of Animal Health. They have been helpful at every step of our feasibility project, from helping us understand the basics (What are the basic types of inspection in our state? What are the septic requirements for a facility?) to the details (Can we ferment meats? Are there others already doing this in Indiana?).
Other resources you might learn from
OUR FARMER-TO-FARMER PROJECT & S.A.R.E.
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We received a Farmer-Rancher grant from the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program of USDA. With SARE's support, we set out to create a "shovel-ready" plan for a "farmer-to-farmer" processing facility. See what projects other farmers are tackling (or apply for your own grant to research new ideas).
Our farms aren't unusual: we raise animals on pasture and sell meat locally - and like many livestock farmers, we struggle with processing. Sometimes the challenge is scheduling, other times it's quality, transparency, or packaging and value-added products. We wanted to test an idea: could we open our own processing facility, one that's structured by farmers, for farmers? Our goal was to test the feasibility of our idea and share all of our resources with the farming community. We're eager to share what we learned. This guide is also available as a .pdf to download. Please be in touch if we can be helpful. Liz & Nate Brownlee - [email protected] Tricia & Dennis Bowers - [email protected] |
This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2017-38640-26916 through the North Central Region SARE program under project number FNC18-1115. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.