A List of USDA Processing Plants for Your Chickens

I was told by a well established USDA inspected poultry processor that there were only a dozen or so small-scale USDA inspected poultry processors in the country that are willing to process for independent farmers. I thought, "That cannot be true!" So as the Program Manager of the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network, a Cooperative Extension sponsored initiative housed at Oregon State University, I decided to find out. We have a listserv of over 1,300 folks, most of them either meat processors or meat producers, so I started by asking the question there. I got around 20 or so recommendations of processors for my list. Then I reached out to the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association and got a few more. Now my list is up to around 25 processors who are willing to do fee-for-service processing for farmers. Fee-for-service processing means that different farmers can schedule a processing slot at these plants, pay a processing fee, and get their birds back packaged and cooled down (and sometimes cut-up). With the USDA inspection and the stamp on the label, that poultry can be sold across state lines, to grocery stores, or to any