Education

Capricorn Hill Small Ruminant Meat Processing Project

Chemung County, NY

Meat goat producers Colleen and Chris Parsons have undertaken a project to renovate a defunct milk bottling plant on their farm in Chemung County and convert it into a USDA certified Meat Processing Plant. This plant would operate part time and would be available to other small ruminant producers on a day lease basis. The Parsons were able to obtain a SARE farmer grant for the first stage of this project: the creation of a custom slaughter/processing facility. To find out more about SARE farmer grants, click here.

As part of their SARE farmer grant, the Parsons have agreed to document on the Web the steps taken to renovate their processing plant. It is hoped that other producer groups will be able to use these documented experiences and duplicate the beneficial aspects while avoiding some of the mistakes the Parsons may encounter.

• Basic business plan and photos used for initial presentation to USDA Inspection Officials
• Grant application submitted to SARE for financial aid in renovating plan
• Letter submitted to local government to request a zoning variance for on-farm meat processing plant
• For more information about this project, you can email the Parsons' on the current status of the slaughter house project