Getting State Inspected Beef Sold Over State Lines

The Farm Bill remains a key focus in Washington, DC, as momentum continues to build. The National Cattleman's Beef Association is working to expand meat processing capacity, with discussions underway in both the House and the Senate on improving access to smaller processors and consumers, Senior Director of Government Affairs at NCBA, Sigrid Johannes,

“What we're seeing now is that some of those businesses have survived. Some of them haven't. That is the nature of, you know, getting a plant off the ground. They're very capital-intensive, and we're in a really tough part of the cattle cycle right now for them to get open and stay open. But what we're hearing now most from our producers and our members, who obviously overwhelmingly come from the cow calf space, is I just want to see more ways that these plants and some of these smaller operators can sell to consumers in my backyard. And so there is also language in this farm bill that would create a pilot program to basically let some of those custom exempt processors sell beef direct consumers within the state.”

In addition and separate from the farm bill, is legislation that has been introduced called the DIRECT Act,

“And we are working on getting a house companion introduced in short order here. But this is basically a bill that would allow those state-inspected plants so folks who are participating in an MPI program within their state to sell across state lines under certain conditions.”

Currently, meat processed under state inspection cannot be sold across state lines.