The Meat Science Technology Center offers Custom Exempt processing to the public for the processing of farmers livestock for home consumption. Meat process as Custom Exempt is labeled “Not for Sale”, and is not inspected by the USDA, and therefore cannot be sold to the public. For further questions and specifics on Custom Exempt Processing please see FSIS Directive 8160.1 Rev. 1 Custom Exempt Review Process (usda.gov). The MSTC offers Custom Exempt processing on beef, pork, and lamb/goat within certain weight limitations. Please contact our Manager, Ryan Crowe, at hrcrowe@uga.edu for scheduling and availability.
Live weight (LW) restrictions:
- No cattle accepted less than 700lbs, or more than 1500lbs. (Kill range is between 700-1500lbs)
- Maximum horn width between the left and right horn being no more than 22″.
- No pigs accepted less than 100lbs, or more than 350lbs. (Kill range is between 100-350lbs)
- No tusked animals are allowed.
- We do not process wild/feral hogs.
- No lamb/goat more than 200lbs, with no minimum weight. (Kill range up to 200lbs)
Please Note: We will not process the animal(s) if they are outside of the range listed. If you are unsure if the weight is within range, please utilize the scale in our pens and check the weights. Once again, we will not process if the animal(s) out of the kill range, and you will be required to come pick up the animal on the kill day scheduled.
Processing Fees:
Beef
Kill fee- $200.00/head
Processing fee*- $0.90/lb based on the Hot Carcass Weight (HCW). Minimal processing amount will be based on a 500lb carcass (~800lb live weight).
Pork
Kill for BBQ hog- $75/head
Kill, cut, grind, and package- $230 flat fee (whole), $130 flat fee (half).
Lamb/Goat
Kill for BBQ/Split- $75/head
Kill, cut, grind, and package- $250.00 flat fee (whole).
Further Instruction:
Please take the animal(s) off feed 24hrs prior to slaughter time, however always allow access to water. When you drop the animal(s) off, please put them in a pen, but do not commingle animal(s) of different farms. It is fine to have several animals in one pen, providing they are from the same farm and same species. There are buckets in the pens that are to be filled with water. Please make sure they have access to water before you leave the facility.
Attached to this page are three (3) forms that will need to be filled out and dropped off with the animal(s). If the sheets are not filled out and dropped off with the animal(s), the animal(s) will not be harvested and you will be required to come pick them up and schedule another time. Of the three attached forms–One is an age documentation (beef only), one is the barbiturate free status (for all species), and the other is the cut sheet (beef or pork). Please take a moment to read the age and barbiturate status forms and fill with the appropriate information. Please fill out a cut sheet for each animal and/or customer, including appropriate contact information. You may put the completed forms in an envelope, then put the envelope on the clipboard that is located near the scale head of the chute. On the envelope, please put your name, associated ear tags (if applicable), and the pen # (one pen per farm per species) you placed the animal(s) into. Once again, the animals must have access to water throughout the stay in the pens & all forms must be filled out. Due to federal and state laws, all customers must have their information on file with the plant. This includes the name/address of each person receiving meat. Once again, if cut sheets are not filled out, the animal(s) will not be harvested.