Meat Processing In West Virginia

[coxgreenhouse]

I've looked and searched but not finding what I need. What I need, is to know the laws as it pretains to growing and butcheing meat chickens in West Virginia. If anyone has something please reply.

Thanks Steve

 

[booker81]

Try contacting your State Agriculture department. Many states go by the USDA exemption guidelines, but some states have their own, not sure if West Virginia is one. Your State Ag dept would be sure to know

 

[madamwlf]

Where in West Virginia are you? If you are close to the Maryland border, there is a Amish place up in PA that does processing pretty cheap. We're going to use them this time.

 

[coxgreenhouse]

Eastern Panhandle of WV. I actually have the State Small Animal health inspector coming this coming week and will chat with him. I'm sure I can find a authorized butcher but that cuts in to the bottom line for sales. I'm closest to Va line (half a mile) and need to compete with those small farms in VA but hearing this and that about what I can do and can't do. One being I can't butcher my own meat for sale!!!!!

 

[Mac in Wisco]

You can start by reading this USDA document which describes federal rules. Once you understand how the federal exemptions work you can contact your state ag department and ask them about specifics for your state.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oppde/rdad/fsisnotices/poultry_slaughter_exemption_0406.pdf

 

[Mac in Wisco]

This is from a ten year old document:

http://www.apppa.org/legalstates.pdf

WEST VIRGINIA

The Law. In West Virginia, the Meat and Poultry Inspection Division of the State Department of Agriculture is the agency with regulatory control over poultry inspection.

West Virginia allows exemptions from inspection of poultry when the commissioner determines the exemption would further the purposes of the law, to the extent such exemptions conform to the federal Meat Inspection Act and the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act.
Regulations of the Department have deleted former references to federal exemptions. The only preserved exemptions are for producers raising up to 1,000 of his own birds on his own premises during a calendar year. There is no application process in order to obtain the exemption. There are no scheduled compliance reviews of exempted operations unless the Meat and Poultry Inspection Division suspects that the operator may be exceeding the limit or otherwise not complying with the law. The exemption in West Virginia is primarily applied to seasonal turkey production before Thanksgiving, according to department officials.

Agency Contact. Additional information concerning poultry inspection in the state of West Virginia can be obtained through:

W. Jan Charminski, DVM, PhD
Director
Meat and Poultry Inspection Division
West Virginia Department of Agriculture
State Capitol
1900 Kanawha Boulevard East
Charleston WV 25305
Phone: 304-558-2207
Fax: 304-558-1882
E-mail: [email protected]

 

[WVDan44]

If you are going to be selling meat to the public, I believe the authorities require the processing to be done in a facility separate from cutting up and packaging. Contact the WV Dept. Of Agriculture and they will send you whatever information they have for free. You might also try calling your county extension agent.

 

[slab1]

Same question here. I'm in north central WV, below Morgantown and above Clarksburg. Does anyone have any info about a processor local to me?

 

[Roan]

http://www.wvagriculture.org/Division_Webpages/meat_poultry.html there may be something there that helps.

 

[Honeydofarms]

I've looked and searched but not finding what I need. What I need, is to know the laws as it pretains to growing and butcheing meat chickens in West Virginia. If anyone has something please reply.

Thanks Steve

If you plan on selling the meat, you have to get a permit from the WVDA. 1,000 bird exemption permit. You can find the permit on the WVDA website and mail it in