Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig recently proposed legislation to benefit small-scale poultry processing.

Secretary Naig wants to help smaller poultry producers with a bill that he hopes can do that. According to a press release from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the bill could allow state poultry processing establishments to perform both official inspected and custom-exempt processing within the same facility. Naig underlines one rule that he believes needs to be corrected surrounding poultry processing.

“Allowing a meat locker to both do official and custom processing, meaning that they can do…official meaning that it can go to retail or custom, which is mean, means you bring it in, it’s processed, and it goes back home with you.”

Naig comments how that is one thing that can be done. In addition, Naig also makes the case for the state of Iowa to give grants for meat lockers as he stresses that there is opportunity in those areas.