HELP WANTED

While there definitely is an increasing market for heritage meats, the challenge throughout the country remains a lack of local meat processing facilities, particularly butchers that can process small-scale, artisanal meats that need traditional techniques such as dry curing.

While this lack of processors also burdened April Prusia of Dorothy’s Range, she acted on a larger scale to look at the bigger picture and also help other small-scale meat producers with similar challenges. She formed a team of women farmers including Betty Anderson of the Old Smith Place and Bethany Storm of the Little

Red Home(Stead) and they applied for and received a North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research Education Farmer Rancher grant to assess the demand and feasibility of a federally licensed mobile slaughtering facility in south-central Wisconsin.

“We are surveying producers in our area to see what their needs alongside what current facility availability to see what unmet needs and opportunities might exist,” says Prusia, who will be sharing her final report and learnings so that other farmers struggling with the lack of local processors can learn from her team’s research and experience.

“SARE Farmer Rancher grants provide opportunities for farmers to research challenging issues and find solutions that can then be helpful to other farmers,” says Beth Nelson, director of research and education programs for North Central SARE. “April’s project is a great example of how farmers coming together to creatively and collaboratively solve a problem and share information adds up to a stronger future for sustainable agriculture.”

SARE provides a variety of farmer resources and support, including a variety of fact sheets and granting programs. To find out more and which of the four regional SARE groups you are part of, see www.sare.org.