Alternative Meat Marketing Strategies FOR MORE INFORMATION Frequently asked questions about using custom‐exempt slaughter and processing facilities in Oregon for beef, pork, lamb, and goat By Lauren Gwin, OSU/NMPAN & Jim Postlewait, ODA Food Safety Division smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/publications/techreports/TRFAQsmeat.pdf This brochure explains, to farmers and customers, the federal and state rules relevant to live, “on the hoof” sales of livestock (by wholes, halves, quarters) that can be processed at a custom‐exempt, state‐licensed facility. Meat and Poultry Buying at Farmers’ Markets: A Survey of Shoppers at Four Markets in Oregon By Lauren Gwin, OSU/NMPAN & Larry Lev, OSU smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/publications/techreports/TRMeatPoultryBuying.pdf Farmers’ markets remain a challenge for meat and poultry; vendors report fairly low sales and minimal profit. To understand why, we surveyed consumers at four Oregon markets. Nearly half had never purchased meat or poultry at a farmers’ market. The main reasons consumers who eat meat and poultry do not buy more at markets are price, inconvenience, and food safety concerns. We recommend consumer education strategies. Marketing Beef for Small‐Scale Producers By Arion Thiboumery, Iowa State University Extension & Mike Lorentz, Lorentz Meats www.extension.org/mediawiki/files/0/00/Marketing_Beef_for_Small‐Scale_Producers.pdf If you are a small‐scale producer, marketing less than 100 beef a year, one of the best ways to market your beef for the least amount of time and money is to direct market in halves, quarters, and bundles. This document explains how to resolve common problems with selling this way and is also relevant to marketing pork, lamb, or other meats directly. National Center for Appropriate Technology/ATTRA attra.ncat.org NCAT/ATTRA – an essential resource for anyone in sustainable agriculture – has an excellent series of detailed publications on many aspects of alternative marketing options for livestock products, including: 
Beef Marketing Alternatives o
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Pork Marketing Alternatives o
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attra.ncat.org/attra‐pub/beefmark.html attra.ncat.org/attra‐pub/altpork.html Small Scale Poultry Processing o
attra.ncat.org/attra‐pub/PDF/poultryprocess.pdf Niche Markets: Assessment and Strategy Development for Agriculture ag.arizona.edu/arec/wemc/nichemarkets.html This series of articles, while not specific to meat & poultry products, offers valuable information and instruction on developing niche markets for agricultural products. Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network: www.nichemeatprocessing.org NMPAN is a national network of people and organizations creating and supporting appropriate‐scale meat processing infrastructure for niche meat markets. NMPAN coordinates, distributes, and develops info & resources on regulations, business development & marketing, plant design, mobile processing options, and more; find webinars, case studies, videos, and other tools on the website. Label Claims and Certifications 
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Labeling basics: www.extension.org/pages/Meat_Labels_and_Label_Claims Certified Organic: www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/NOP Grass‐fed o USDA Voluntary label claim: tinyurl.com/USDA‐grassfed‐claim o American Grassfed Association: www.americangrassfed.org/our‐standards‐and‐
certification/ o Food Alliance: foodalliance.org/grassfed Humane o Animal Welfare Approved: www.animalwelfareapproved.org o Certified Humane Raised and Handled: www.certifiedhumane.org o American Humane: www.americanhumane.org National/multi‐state databases focused on sustainable foods A great way to promote your products and see how others are direct marketing theirs: 
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FoodHub: food‐hub.org o Food producers and buyers of all scales (OR, WA, CA, AK, ID, MT) Local Harvest: www.localharvest.org o Farmers' markets, family farms, & other sources of sustainably grown food Eatwild: eatwild.com o Grassfed products: beef, lamb, goats, bison, poultry, pork, dairy, and other wild edibles