US: Mobile poultry processing unit licensed
The Mobile Processing Unit for poultry (MPU) is licensed for use by small Montana producers. Inside the state-inspected processing truck, birds can be quickly prepared for sale right on site, reports The Prairie Star.
According to Jan Tusick, Programme Manager for the Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Centre, Ronan, Mont., this is the first time Montana poultry producers have had access to an MPU. “It took us about a year and a half to build. We completed it six months ago and did a few test runs last season. Now it’s ready to go.”
The truck has been inspected and approved for slaughter by the Montana Department of Livestock under the Federal 20,000 Bird Exemption Act. Tusick explained the federal exemption has been in place since the 1940s to assist smaller producers get their meat onto the market.
Now, smaller producers in the area can slaughter their birds under state inspection without the presence of a federal inspector on the slaughter floor. The exemption also allows small-scale producers to slaughter and sell their own birds within the state of Montana.
Source: The Prairie Star
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