Vet search delays state meat program

DETROIT – Wally Brousseau, owner and operator of Brousseau’s Family Meats, has run his meat processing facility as a custom operation for the past five years.

“Four years ago we tried [to become U.S. Department of Agriculture certified] but federal officials seemed so difficult to work with. Their upgrade requirements were so intense and some were just not justified,” Brousseau said recently.

“Each of the USDA meat inspectors were responsible for two to three plants, and adding custom operations would make them responsible for more. It just seemed easier for them to discourage me,” he said.

That’s why Brousseau and 37 other custom meat operations around the state have anxiously been awaiting the startup of the state’s meat inspection program, which was finally approved by USDA in November. The program is being held up, however, by the inability of Maine’s Agriculture Department to locate an on-call veterinarian to oversee it.

Meanwhile, state officials are holding training sessions and working with the local meat facilities, saying the program will open up new marketing possibilities for those Maine businesses.

“The state program will allow me to pursue markets never available to me before,” confirmed Brousseau.

Currently, custom facilities can kill and process livestock only for the animals’ owner, not for resale. By getting a state inspection stamp on their meat, which means they meet rigorous state regulations, more than three dozen processors will be able to sell to small markets, farmers markets or directly to customers by operating their own retail stores. They are limited to commerce within the state.

“I’ve got a customer that supplies meat for four stores and several restaurants from his Dexter farm,” said Brousseau. “He drives right by me now to get to a USDA-inspected plant. By becoming state-certified, I can offer him my service and it will also allow me to pursue a wholesale sausage market and work with the organic and all-natural market.”

David Gagnon of the state Department of Agriculture said the program will “allow greater access for the slaughter facilities of Maine, and therefore the farmer, to small shops, farmers markets, and will greatly increase the demand for Maine-grown meat.”

Currently, only six facilities are USDA-inspected, with the most northern location in Dover-Foxcroft. By adding 38 state-inspected businesses, transportation costs, ease of shipment and processing costs will be reduced for Maine producers.

The entire program is reimbursed 50 percent by the federal government and the state was able to obtain six federal grants that allowed six red-meat and four poultry processors to upgrade their facilities. One meat inspector also has been hired.

Gagnon said the holdup for the program is that a part-time veterinarian needs to be hired and no one wants the job. “This is an on-call position that a state inspector could call if there is any question about the health or condition of a slaughter animal,” said Gagnon.

Advertising for the job has gone unanswered, and Gagnon said if someone doesn’t come forward, the state will recruit at veterinary graduations this spring.