Ohio Meat Industry Newsletter - May 2020

Dr. Lyda G. Garcia, Fresh Meat Extension Specialist, Department of Animal Sciences
Dr. Lynn Knipe, Processed Meat Extension Specialist, Departments of Animal Sciences and Food Science

At long last, we are getting the OSU Meat Industry Newsletter under way. This newsletter is intended to communicate information to meat processors that is hopefully helpful in producing safe and high quality meat products. We hope to get contributions from all of the OSU meat science faculty on topics that are important to you.  Our plan is to have a new newsletter available every two months.

In addition to the meat science articles, we will highlight articles on other topics that have been published in newspapers and magazines (non-technical publications) on nutritional value of meat, alternative meat products, meat consumption, etc. You will find these under the Consumer Information Tab, on the home page of this website, which originally was intended for consumers. But consider these a resource that you might use for when your customers are asking you questions about these issues.

You will also find some Meat Industry News articles, under the News Tab on the home page, which has articles about meat companies around Ohio. This small collection is what we have found, but we would encourage you to send me news stories about your companies that can be added to this site.

Subscription Process for this Newsletter

You are getting this first issue as a result of being on our Ohio Meat Industry List Serve, but to get future newsletters, you will need to subscribe at the bottom of this page.

Upcoming Short courses

It has been difficult to plan future short courses during these uncertain times, but we are proposing the following:

July 22-23: Intro HACCP for Meat & Poultry Processors

August 20-21: Advanced HACCP

September 21-23: Thermal Processing of Ready-to-Eat Meat Products

October 19-20: Introduction to Process Control for Meat & Poultry Processors

October TBD:  Intro HACCP for Meat & Poultry Processors

November 12-13: Labeling for Meat & Poultry Processors

Please, go to the Events tab of our website at: meatsci.osu.edu/events for more details as they become available.

Please note the articles in this newsletter that we have written in response to issues related to meat processing and the COVID-19 pandemic.  Some are written more for producers, but feel free to pass them on to anyone that you know who is wanting to slaughter animals on their farm.

Available Plants in Ohio

Please let us know if you know of any plants around Ohio which are currently standing idle, or about to become available for sale/rent.  We are getting a number of calls about companies wanting to start new plants, and some have considered building new facilities.  We are encouraging them to get their feet wet in an existing facility before building a new building..

Funding Opportunity

I have received the following information from someone in Omaha, NE but am not sure how feasible it is to get funding to help with the additional business resulting from the current pandemic situation.

For those meat processors located in communities that receive HUD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, it may help.  HUD has allocated CDBG-CV funds specifically to address coronavirus needs and it can be used for equipment like coolers, worker protective coverings, facility expansion, or to hire more workers.  If used for labor, at least 51% of the jobs need to go to low-to-moderate income households.  This quick guide from HUD explains how the funds can be used.  https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/Quick-Guide-CDBG-Infectious-Disease-Response.pdf