ARGYLE — Over the last two years, the Meatsmith Co-op board has been developing a business model for the first cooperative in the state to offer a full-service slaughter and meat processing option for livestock producers.
This month, the board is inviting small- and medium-scale producers of cattle, hogs, sheep and goats in southwestern Wisconsin to sign up to become members. Co-op members will gain access to preferential scheduling, lower processing fees and profit sharing, as well as a voice in developing cooperative policies and choosing its leadership.
As members of Meatsmith Co-op, producers are joining forces with other livestock farmers in the region who want to have more choice in how their animals are harvested and processed. The $500 membership fee represents owner equity in the cooperative and will facilitate the purchase of the 6,500-square-foot former grocery store in Argyle that will be converted into a meat processing facility.
Information on becoming a member can be found at the co-op’s website: www.meatsmithcoop.com.
Based on a needs-assessment survey of southern Wisconsin farmers, the co-op’s business plan focuses on harvesting and processing livestock for small- and medium-scale producers in Dane, Grant, Green, Iowa, Lafayette and Rock counties.
While producer and worker members will determine the future of the cooperative, plans are in place to begin operations as a custom-exempt facility in late 2022, with animals harvested on-farm by existing mobile slaughter unit (MSU) operators.
Once renovations of the facility are completed (projected for spring or summer 2023), the co-op intends to become a state-inspected processing facility and begin operating a state-inspected MSU to harvest animals on-farm. The eventual goal is to participate in the Cooperative Interstate Shipment (CIS) program, making it possible for producers and the co-op to sell meat products throughout the United States. Additionally, the co-op hopes to incorporate a retail storefront offering local meat and non-meat products to the public, provide order-fulfillment services to producer members and offer a group marketing program.
The cooperative is led by a seven-person board representing farmers, butchers, educators and community members, with decades of experience building sustainable, responsible farming and processing practices. The board has received guidance from the Wisconsin Farmers Union, the Food Finance Institute, the UW Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic, and the UW Center for Cooperatives to develop its organizational documents and business plan.
As the first local meat-processing cooperative in Wisconsin, the co-op received a grant in May 2022 from Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to examine the feasibility of replicating its business model elsewhere in Wisconsin.