Since the beginning of the pandemic, many of the complexities and inequalities in our nation’s supply chain have come to light. One important lesson that we learned as a society is that heavy reliance on traditional supply chains comes with some vulnerabilities, especially when it comes to meat production and processing.
Livestock farmers across North Carolina quickly learned to navigate the new market environment, with many resorting to using new marketing tools like MeatSuite.com to increase their sales at a time of soaring consumer demand. As more North Carolinians bought locally raised meats, farmers brought more animals to be processed at the small independent processing plants available across the state. Waitlists quickly grew to a year or more, preventing the North Carolina local food economy from effectively meeting the food needs of our people.
The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) quickly mobilized to address this supply chain bottleneck by making funds available through the Increasing Meat Production and Capacity Grant (IMPEC) Program. The key to this program’s success is its ability to rely on a well-established network of producers, processors, marketers, allied partners, and Extension agents embedded in the niche market for pasture-raised meats. NC Choices, an initiative of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems and NC Cooperative Extension, promotes sustainable food systems through the advancement of the local, niche, and pasture-based meat supply chains in North Carolina. With almost 20 years of experience in elevating market opportunities for local farmers, the NC Choices team worked closely with our partners at NCDA&CS to provide technical assistance to processors in order to expand their slaughter capacity and better service independent farmers across the state.
NC Choices directed staff efforts toward supporting state and federally inspected meat processing facilities during COVID and that included working with our partners at NCDA&CS to help processors prepare and submit their applications, bring in national consultants to help advise on their expansion plans, and work with equipment suppliers to leverage industry expertise wherever possible (a process that was mentored by CEFS’ Board member, Richard Hibbits. A total of 23 facilities were awarded nearly $17M in Legislative CARES Act funding to retool their facilities and increase animal throughput due to COVID slowdowns during the first IMPEC round.
NC Choices continued to provide technical assistance to processors implementing upgrades as part of the Legislative funds with the second round of IMPEC grants. Notably, NC Choices brought in a meat-processing consultant, Keith Dehaan, to visit area processors in western NC. NC Choices also provided targeted technical assistance to Watauga Butchery and Watauga Cooperative Extension on processing needs in their area.
The team recently conducted site visits for 12 processor awardees, and provided one-on-one technical assistance on project expansions. Technical assistance varied widely from scheduling processor/industry consultations, helping with permitting, to regulatory troubleshooting.
In early 2021, the NC Choices advisory committee worked with community partners to develop a subgroup with the goal of expressing industry needs and funding impacts as it relates to the niche meat sector. Representatives in the group include NC Choices, Farm Bureau, NC Cattlemen’s Association, Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA, NCDA&CS, farmers, federally inspected processors, and additional private sector partners. We channeled our energy around organizing a funder tour to display the impact of recent COVID-19 NC Legislature CARES Act funding directed in the meat processing sector. The tour, spearheaded by NCC’ board member Debbie Hamrick and NCDA&CS partners, took place February 27 at Wilkes Abattoir and included Representative Jeff Elmore from Wilkes County and Representative Rep Kyle Hall from Stokes County. The goal was to highlight and showcase the direct impact of these funds, what groups like NC Choices, NCDA&CS, and partners are doing to support them, and articulate future industry needs.
Sarah Blacklin, NC Choices Program Director, and Lee Menius, Technical Program Coordinator, both participated in the NCDA&CS Increasing Meat Processing Efficiency and Capacity (IMPEC) Round III grant application review committee. NC Choices continues to serve on the planning team with a group of stakeholders to help direct funding needs for a potential IMPEC Round IV.
