We are again hearing that the U.S. House Agriculture Committee may soon be releasing draft Farm Bill language.
We’ve seen a major decline in independent producers in the latest Agriculture Census, and that is directly due to government policies that support massive, consolidated operations and hamper small ones.
Today we are focusing on two different reforms to help small-scale farmers have more options for meat processing and sales, also serving consumers who wish to buy direct from their local farm. The first is the PRIME Act.
The PRIME Act
The PRIME Act allows farmers to use licensed custom slaughterhouses and then sell the meat within their own state, either direct to consumers or to local restaurants and retailers. Now, custom slaughter is available to owners or part owners of a live animal. This would provide transparent, accountable meat sources to supply our local communities.
The LOCAL Foods Act
The second is the Livestock Owned by Communities to Advance Local (LOCAL) Foods Act. It has not been filed yet, but our allies are working with legislators to include it in the draft.
The LOCAL Foods Act allows individuals to buy a share of live animals and then hire someone as their agent to do the processing on-farm. The bill also reins in USDA’s abuses of state meat inspection programs, stopping USDA from harassing the states based on the agency’s informal policies or staff opinions.
Independent Farms and Ranches will Benefit
These bills help local farmers and consumers at different scales. The LOCAL Foods Act helps the very smallest producers get their products to consumers who desire them, and it helps those consumers who want to buy meat in fairly large quantities at a time through animal shares, allowing them to do so without government oversight or regulation.
The PRIME Act also helps small producers, including those who want to sell meat by the individual cut to consumers at local farmers markets and other outlets; the Act will enable them to use licensed slaughterhouses with more scale-appropriate regulation. This sort of tiered approach is what we need to build a resilient and diversified food system!
Want to Help
TAKE ACTION
Action Step #1
Call or email your representative! Tell them to support the PRIME Act (H.R.2814) and the LOCAL Foods Act. Calls are most effective – please see a sample script below.
Find Your Representative. Find our if your Representative is a member of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee.
Action Step #2
Contact members of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee and tell them to support the PRIME Act and the LOCAL Foods Act. Sample script below.
Action Step #3
Spread the word! Forward this Action Alert email to your friends, families, and customer list.
TALKING POINTS
Below is a sample message to use for your call or email but please, to make the most impact, create a personalized message that shares your story about why this matters to you!
As a constituent, I urge Representative ____________ to support vital reforms to support small-scale livestock producers in the Farm Bill:
1. The PRIME Act, H.R. 2814 allows small farmers to use custom-exempt slaughterhouses to process their animals and then sell meat by the cut within their state.
2. The LOCAL Foods Act of 2024, allows consumers to buy a share of a live animal and then choose to have it slaughtered on-farm by a person of their choice.
The COVID-19 Pandemic shone a spotlight on the severe problems with our consolidated meat industry. We need more small-scale farmers and independent processors, but one-size-fits-all USDA regulations stand in the way.
The PRIME Act uses custom slaughterhouses as the answer, which represent a smarter, scale-sensitive approach to regulation. They must meet federal and state standards, but without some of the aspects that are unduly expensive and burdensome for small-scale operations. A typical custom slaughterhouse processes fewer animals in an entire year than a typical large plant does in a single day. Custom slaughterhouses have shown that scale-sensitive regulations work well – the USDA has no records of any foodborne illness traced to any custom slaughterhouse since 2012.
Passing the PRIME Act would provide immediate relief for many farmers who at present must wait up to two years to get their animals processed at an inspected plant. And in the
long-term, it creates greater opportunities for new small-scale custom slaughterhouses to open, building the infrastructure we need for a more resilient, robust food system – without spending more tax dollars.
The LOCAL Foods Act addresses those farmers operating on an even smaller scale, working with local consumers who wish to buy shares of their live animals and have them processed on-farm. This extremely small-scale, transparent approach to local meat is happening in multiple states already, but is under threat by unreasonable USDA action. The bill continues to hold the states to the federal statutory and regulatory requirements, while simultaneously stopping USDA from harassing the states based on the agency’s informal policies or staff opinions.
Please support your constituents, consumers, and small farmers by including the
PRIME Act and the LOCAL Foods Act in the Farm Bill.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
MORE INFORMATION
For more information on the PRIME Act, please CLICK HERE.
For more information on the on farm slaughter, please CLICK HERE.