License's Needed?

anthonyjames

Songster
10 Years
Apr 22, 2009
680
2
149
Port Washington, WI
I am in WI and I am trying to find out what I need (permits/license's) to sell poultry that is frozen as well as some pigs from my location. Does anyone in WI on this forum have any information and cost info on where to find this data. I have been searching for the past few weeks and I am not having any luck. I am trying to plan for next year since I have a few pigs getting ready for freezer camp as well as extra chickens from this year. And would like to expand my offerings a bit to people could purchase year round if I build up a supply since I am getting questions now already.

Thanks
 
Pigs can be sold one of two ways from the farm, either through a contract with you, the customer, and the processor. What happens is you take in your live animal that has already been sold to said customer and then the processor will cut to the customers needs and then the product is labeled not for resale. If you're wanting to sell select cuts from your farm it's best to get them processed at a USDA processor which isn't too difficult to find for swine and beef. However your custom processor normally is exempt from the USDA inspection because they process mainly for the customer / farmer contract.

As for chickens, technically I believe as long as your under 1,000 you can sell those birds any way you want them, cut, frozen, fresh, ect. However Wisconsin may be federally exempt if they do not have a state law which would put you at 20,000 birds.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it unless your selling from farmers markets. Not very many people are going to harass you from selling from your home.
 
Jeff,

Well I was selling from my home this year. I work at a Family Farm as well in the fall. The farm is well a petting zoo type farm that is a non-profit to show how the farmstead used to be and keep the history of farming alive. Well this year as they we were rounding up the pigs (have to be there for the visitors) I asked how much they sold them for. And well when they said $0.40 on the hoof I almost had a heart attack. I said we could process it for that and sell the remainder from the admission barn while people are eating at the cafe or purchasing vegetables which we started this year. Well that led to them saying why do I raise the birds on the farm and we sell them here as well.

So I am trying to do the research as for what is needed to sell frozen meats from the admission barn. The chickens is not an issue. I know it is as long as we don't hit 1,000 processing on farm we are ok. But if we did I would run up the the state inspected processor who also does, goats, pigs, cows, etc.

I just want to due the research to make sure we are in the clear for selling frozen meat from the farm. http://www.familyfarm.net/

Thanks
 
Hmmm, wish I knew the answer. You could look up 'MPPU' for your state. Yours may not have one, but it is a mobile poultry processing unit that can come to your farm, butcher for you, and you are then free to sell the meat in any form (fresh, frozen, cooked). We have one here in Nor Cal, but I dont know the charge per bird yet.
 
If you sell no more than 1,000 chickens, you can butcher them at home. Exempt, or uninspected, poultry plants can also butcher no more than 1,000 birds for sale or home use. In 2001, there were 11 of these plants in Wisconsin; in 2008 there are 15. Birds processed at home or at an exempt plant must be labeled “not inspected, exempt 97.42” with the name and address of the producer. You can sell live chickens to customers, but these birds cannot be butchered on your farm. The buyer has to take the chickens home to butcher them.
http://www.cias.wisc.edu/crops-and-livestock/raising-poultry-on-pasture/

http://www.villageofturtlelake.com/Downloadable Forms/Farmers Market/Food Safety Regulations.pdf

You'll have to pay somebody to slaughter your pigs if you want to sell pork.
 

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