Restock Dates: Please see our Farm Blog where we post our weekly newsletter for the latest updates

An Update On The "On-Farm" Slaughter Trailer

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

May 24, 2021

As you know, earlier this year we built a carcass aging cooler and fabrication room to process our beef and pork on-farm.

What made this possible was when Blue Sky Farms in Jackson decided to purchase a "Mobile Slaughter Trailer".

After many delays the company finally delivered the trailer Friday, May 14th.

Following our deliveries to the Jackson Metro area last Saturday, Beth and I stopped by to take a look.

S-Trailer.jpg

Here is a side view. The animal will enter from the rear, be cooled in the front until unloaded through the open door.

S-Trailer-Rear.jpg

Here, Beth is viewing the rear compartment.

S-Trailer-Front.jpg


The front compartment will start the cool down until the carcasses are unloaded into my carcass cooler where they will finish the aging process.

Folks, this is a VERY BIG GAME CHANGER FOR MISSISSIPPI! And, I might add a "Pioneering Effort". Frankly, I believe if farms want to be in the direct to consumer marketing of their locally raised meat they will need the capability to process their own animals.

We are very grateful to Hugh for his vision and willingness to step out there and make this capability available.

So, the next step is - USDA Inspection! Well, that happened last Wednesday. As typical, they found stuff (mainly documentation) that needs attention before they will signoff. That is being worked and will hopefully be rescheduled for later next week.

Want be long now!

As always, we thank you for rewarding our hard work with your trust and support.

More from the blog

MS Ag Commissioner Visits NGF

Commissioner Andy Gipson Visits NGF - Monday, Commissioner Gipson (Andy) visited our farm for the third time. First, was after he was appointed and Senator Hill and I were working to increase the poultry exemption for Mississippi. The second time was after we built the USDA poultry processing plant that Andy supported our LWT Grant which helped fund about 50% of the cost. This visit was to support Andy’s efforts to both support existing farmers as well as encourage more people to farm and help feed our citizens.

Amazing Recognition

Amazing Recognition 2025 #12 Best Blogger! – A site titled FeedSpot recently released what they describe as the best Regenerative Agriculture blogs from thousands of blogs on the web and ranked by relevancy, authority, social media followers & freshness. We are amazed that Nature’s Gourmet Farm blog ranked #12 out of the top 30 blogs recognized.

Farm Improvements

Farm Improvements – Fresh water is a necessity for raising healthy animals on pasture. Until recently, we used an ICB tote on a small tralier that we would refill from our well. During the summer the frequency greatly increases in order to keep the chickens hydrated. So, I called my buddy at Southern Pipe and ordered pipe, fittings, etc. and then rented a trencher for May 16th to install 2,700 feet of 1.25 inch PVC pipe. Along the line we added 15 Plasson Quick Coupler Valves that we will hook to as we move the animals through our pastures.