We can now accept beef older than 30 months old for inspected processing!
Our Services
We provide custom butchering and packing under USDA inspection, vacuum sealed and packaged for retail sale. We also offer custom exempt packaging using either vacuum packing. Currently, we offer processing services for beef, pork, lamb, and goat. We intend to expand into offering services for pork and more value-added options in the future.
We also offer burger patties and sausages, and are working to add additional value added offerings.
Our PROCESS
Because we do not currently have our own inspected harvest floor onsite, we are partnering with other USDA processors in neighboring counties for harvesting. All animals to be packed under inspection for retail sale must be delivered to our receiving site by the producer. We handle transportation to the harvest site and back to our shop for processing and packing.
ON FARM HARVESTING
Many small farmers in our area have traditionally harvested livestock on the farm for personal consumption under a process exempt from USDA inspection, with the meat marked “Not for Resale”. Per new guidelines from the NC Department of Agriculture, this process is no longer permissible, effective November 16, 2023, without adequate processing facilities for cleaning the carcass. We can in some circumstances receive and process carcasses that have been harvested personally by the farmer – please call our office for more details and guidelines, and to coordinate.
Cutting Instructions
Our butcher reviews cutting instructions a week in advance to leave time for resolving questions prior to your animal getting to the cut floor. Because of this we need to receive your cut instructions on or before the day the animal is delivered for slaughter. Download our template for cutting instructions here.
Contact our office for more information and to coordinate logistics prior to your booking.
Parameters
Due to physical limitations, our initial services are limited to animals within certain parameters:
Beef
Over 30 Month Carcasses
USDA regulation mandates that beef animals over 30 months old must be segregated and handled separately due to perceived risk of BSE, which adds additional handling costs and prevents the processing of some bone-in cuts of meat. In June 2022, we adjusted our procedures to accommodate these animals. The USDA inspector estimates age based on dental analysis, and may tag an animal as appearing to be over age. In that case, having documentation of birth records and animal age on hand immediately can help avoid adverse action being taken with your animal.
We recommend all beef over 24 months old should have documentation showing proof of age/birthdate provided to our office in advance of delivering the animal for processing. Documentation needs to be authentic. Please provide a copy of your official contemporaneous record showing birthdate, tag number, etc. of the animal. This can be scanned or photographed and emailed to meats@wataugabutchery.com
Pork
Coming soon – USDA inspected pork processing
Dry Aging
Our dry aging room has limited hanging capacity; animals will be processed with 3 to 7 days of aging in most cases.
Packaging, Labeling, and Boxing
Our standard service includes cut to order and packaging in clear plastic Cryovac, with USDA compliant retail labels. Labels can be further customized with your branding, bar coding, and/or custom printed full color labels. We can work with you on design and cost.
Product is packed in metal baskets when finished and returned to customers frozen. Fresh product may be provided as cooler space is available. We can also box product in white cardboard boxes.