Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Josh Brecheen co-sponsored H.R.2814, the PRIME (Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption) Act. 

The bipartisan legislation, introduced by Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME), would make it easier for small farms and ranches to serve consumers and would give individual states the freedom to permit intrastate distribution of custom-slaughtered meat, such as beef, pork, or lamb, to consumers, restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, and grocery stores.

“USDA inspection requirements have long separated the direct purchase of food from local farmers and ranchers. Ranchers have learned how to sell cattle on the halves prior to taking them to be harvested in local processing facilities because of federal regulations. Thus, this change follows what the market is already showing as a win-win for consumers and producers,” said Congressman Josh Brecheen. “I am proud to co-sponsor the PRIME Act to give consumers more choice and agricultural producers greater profitability by empowering individual states to regulate food safety.”

Current law exempts the custom slaughter of animals from federal inspection regulations, but only if the meat is slaughtered for personal, household, guest, and employee use (21 U.S.C. § 623(a)).

This means that in order to sell individual cuts of locally raised meats to consumers, farmers and ranchers must first send their animals to one of a limited number of USDA-inspected slaughterhouses. 

These USDA-inspected slaughterhouses are sometimes hundreds of miles away from farms and ranches, adding substantial transportation costs and increasing the chances of locally raised meat co-mingling with industrially produced meat. The PRIME Act would expand the custom exemption and allow small farms, ranches, and slaughterhouses to thrive.

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