Hot Meat Market Leads To On-Farm Slaughterhouse
When people started knocking at their door asking to buy sheep, Joe and Becky Blystone knew the market for fresh meat was growing. To turn their 30-ewe flock into a profitable business, they expanded to 350 ewes and went to accelerated lambing, with the goal of lambing at 7-month intervals instead of 12. They also added a flock of 60 meat goat does.
"We started with Corriedale ewes, added some white face commercials, Dorset and Finn and Dorper (South African hair sheep) ewes and went to intensive grazing," says Joe Blystone.
They turned to Polypay and Dorset bucks for their out-of-season breeding potential, while Suffolk bucks were crossed for a bigger frame. Dorper bucks were used to reduce shearing. Replacement ewe lambs were selected for out-of-season breeding first and meat production second.
A few years ago, when lamb prices had fallen, the Blystones looked for a way to add more value to the business. Recognizing that their customers needed a place to slaughter their animals led the Blystones to consider building a slaughter facility. They discussed it with a friend of theirs, Professor Henry Zerby, who runs the meat lab at Ohio State University.
"Mike Link, the district supervisor of meat inspection, was real helpful too," says Blystone.
They also worked with the local NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Services) office to develop plans to handle the wastewater. These plans had to be okayed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Getting approval was the only real hold up. Even though smaller existing slaughter facilities could use a septic tank and drain field, the EPA finally decided the Blystones had to use a holding tank and apply the wastewater onto different fields.
Today, they are selling more sheep and goats than ever, including lambs, goat kids, cull ewes and goats purchased at a local livestock market and resold, all for a premium. What the customers are getting for their added cost is meat from a state-approved and inspected, 1,000-sq. ft., on-farm, custom slaughter facility.
"In the first 12 months with the new facility, our business has increased every month," says Blystone. "We set out to sell everything we produced here at a premium, and we easily did that. We don't produce nearly enough animals to meet the demand."
The growth has been virtually all word of mouth, with Joe and Becky handing out business cards and flyers to customers. What drives their market is African immigrants, both Ethiopian Eastern Orthodox Christians and Muslims, living in nearby Columbus, Ohio. Hispanics also are a growing customer segment. Where once they drove up the Blystone driveway asking to buy a lamb, now they go buy their lambs, sheep and goats elsewhere and pay a premium to slaughter them in an inspected, sanitary facility. Built to handle 6 animals at a time, some days customers wait in line to use the facility.
"I think their thought is that if they can come here and pick out an animal, it will be fresh," says Joe Blystone. "If they buy meat in a store, they don't know how old it is, and in the case of beef, it has all been aged. Immigrants really look down at frozen meat."
When the Blystones opened their slaughter facility, most of their customers killed their animals themselves. Joe soon added a meat saw to cut up the carcass for them after they had slaughtered it. Many of the African customers followed traditional religious rules of slaughter. The animal's throat is cut to drain as much blood as possible from the carcass. The method, called Halal in Islam, is very similar to the Jewish Kosher tradition. Researchers studying animal brain waves have found animals slaughtered this way exhibit no pain compared to stunning where pain is exhibited and much more blood remains in the carcass.
Both Joe and a butcher the Blystones have since hired to help handle the increased business, offer to slaughter animals the ritual way. Some customers continue to prefer to do their own and others are very particular about how carcasses are handled.
"Some Muslims will be real touchy about their meat layi
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Hot Meat Market Leads To On-Farm Slaughterhouse LIVESTOCK Beef When people started knocking at their door asking to buy sheep Joe and Becky Blystone knew the market for fresh meat was growing To turn their 30-ewe flock into a profitable business they expanded to 350 ewes and went to accelerated lambing with the goal of lambing at 7-month intervals instead of 12 They also added a flock of 60 meat goat does We started with Corriedale ewes added some white face commercials Dorset and Finn and Dorper South African hair sheep ewes and went to intensive grazing says Joe Blystone They turned to Polypay and Dorset bucks for their out-of-season breeding potential while Suffolk bucks were crossed for a bigger frame Dorper bucks were used to reduce shearing Replacement ewe lambs were selected for out-of-season breeding first and meat production second A few years ago when lamb prices had fallen the Blystones looked for a way to add more value to the business Recognizing that their customers needed a place to slaughter their animals led the Blystones to consider building a slaughter facility They discussed it with a friend of theirs Professor Henry Zerby who runs the meat lab at Ohio State University Mike Link the district supervisor of meat inspection was real helpful too says Blystone They also worked with the local NRCS Natural Resources Conservation Services office to develop plans to handle the wastewater These plans had to be okayed by the Environmental Protection Agency EPA Getting approval was the only real hold up Even though smaller existing slaughter facilities could use a septic tank and drain field the EPA finally decided the Blystones had to use a holding tank and apply the wastewater onto different fields Today they are selling more sheep and goats than ever including lambs goat kids cull ewes and goats purchased at a local livestock market and resold all for a premium What the customers are getting for their added cost is meat from a state-approved and inspected 1 000-sq ft on-farm custom slaughter facility In the first 12 months with the new facility our business has increased every month says Blystone We set out to sell everything we produced here at a premium and we easily did that We don t produce nearly enough animals to meet the demand The growth has been virtually all word of mouth with Joe and Becky handing out business cards and flyers to customers What drives their market is African immigrants both Ethiopian Eastern Orthodox Christians and Muslims living in nearby Columbus Ohio Hispanics also are a growing customer segment Where once they drove up the Blystone driveway asking to buy a lamb now they go buy their lambs sheep and goats elsewhere and pay a premium to slaughter them in an inspected sanitary facility Built to handle 6 animals at a time some days customers wait in line to use the facility I think their thought is that if they can come here and pick out an animal it will be fresh says Joe Blystone If they buy meat in a store they don t know how old it is and in the case of beef it has all been aged Immigrants really look down at frozen meat When the Blystones opened their slaughter facility most of their customers killed their animals themselves Joe soon added a meat saw to cut up the carcass for them after they had slaughtered it Many of the African customers followed traditional religious rules of slaughter The animal s throat is cut to drain as much blood as possible from the carcass The method called Halal in Islam is very similar to the Jewish Kosher tradition Researchers studying animal brain waves have found animals slaughtered this way exhibit no pain compared to stunning where pain is exhibited and much more blood remains in the carcass Both Joe and a butcher the Blystones have since hired to help handle the increased business offer to slaughter animals the ritual way Some customers continue to prefer to do their own and others are very particular about how carcasses are handled Some Muslims will be real touchy about their meat layi
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