MEAT People

Lacy Bates and Brittany Moore recap major meat industry developments, focusing on two USDA initiatives to expand processing capacity and current cattle supply dynamics. USDA announced 147 MPPEP awards across 40 states totaling over $57 million in grants for independent meat and poultry processors to expand capacity and strengthen the supply chain, though labor, equipment costs, regulations, and margins remain challenges. They also explain the $5 billion SPUR (Strengthening Processing for US Ranchers) Guaranteed Loan Program, offering a 90% USDA guarantee via commercial lenders (not grants) for eligible U.S.-located, domestically owned meat, poultry, and seafood processors, with loans up to $175 million and terms up to 40 years, excluding firms at or above the fourth-largest market share. The episode reviews historically low September feedlot placements, gradual reopening of Mexican feeder cattle ports, and how import timing, stocker/backgrounding delays, and potential 2027 heifer retention could affect supplies.   Topics 01:20 USDA 57M Processing Boost 02:34 What It Means for Producers 03:44 SPUR Loan Program Explained 05:27 Who Qualifies and Uses 07:04 Loan Size and How to Apply 08:20 Tight Feeder Cattle Supply 09:47 Mexican Imports Reopening 10:44 Why Imports Lag Feedlots 11:26 Looking Ahead to 2027 13:12 Wrap Up and Next Episode

Neil interviews brothers Javier and David Gonzales of El Rey Chorizo, named after their father “Rey” (Reyes), who brought a chorizo recipe from Monterrey, Mexico to West Texas in 1970 and sold it from a home-based operation and later a small meat market in Crane. They describe their all-natural 80/20 pork and beef chorizo blend with no fillers or additives, using natural chiles rather than paprika, yielding higher protein and less grease and appealing to restaurants and health-conscious customers. The family of eight emphasizes keeping the traditional recipe intact while navigating shelf-life demands and learning modern processes like high-pressure pasteurization. They explain scaling challenges, private labeling, and co-packing, and detail building a USDA-certified plant near College Station by adding a sausage area to their oilfield facility, developing HACCP plans, and relying on SMA and industry mentors for guidance. The conversation highlights family values, hospitality, respect, community support, and views on immigration reform and legal pathways, plus their growth to dozens of restaurant accounts and retail placements.   LInks El Rey Chorizo: https://www.elreychorizo.com/ Visit us at www.southwestmeat.org Topics 00:52 Origins of El Rey 01:40 What Makes Our Chorizo 03:31 From House to Plant 04:23 SMA Event Connections 05:08 Family Business Roles 07:19 Family Values and Upbringing 11:27 Respect and Raising Kids 14:05 Scaling Without Fillers 17:13 Quality Ingredients Edge 19:12 Oilfield Roots and Funding 20:50 Community Support and Demand 22:32 Bootstrapping Demand 23:22 Inside the USDA Plant 24:48 Building HACCP Compliance 26:38 Scaling a Family Recipe 28:44 Community Help Network 29:26 Funding Without Banks 31:21 Opportunity and Gratitude 35:54 Immigration and Reform Talk 40:16 Wrap Up and Where to Buy 42:24 Final Thanks and Next Episodes

Hosts Lacy Bates and Brittany Moore review three key meat-industry updates: a proposed on-farm processing exemption, USDA oversight of imported meat, and USDA-funded projects in Texas. They discuss the Red Meat Inspection Exemption Act (introduced Oct. 5 by Reps. Thomas Massie and Chellie Pingree), which would exempt qualifying small producers who raise, slaughter, and process animals on-farm and sell direct-to-consumer from routine federal inspection, with annual limits of 25 cattle, 60 swine, 250 sheep, or 250 goats, while still requiring compliance with adulteration, misbranding, labeling, and potential USDA food-safety handling rules. They explain how FSIS determines foreign equivalency, reinspects shipments at U.S. ports using PHIS, and refuses entry for noncompliant products. Finally, they cover USDA grants to Texas Tech.   Visit us at southwestmeat.org   Topics 00:00 Welcome and Headlines 01:11 Red Meat Exemption Bill 02:02 Food Safety and Labels 03:58 Poultry Exemptions Compared 05:06 Imported Meat Eligibility 06:05 Port Reinspection Process 07:45 Refusals and Compliance Data 09:08 Texas Tech Food Science Complex 10:41 West Texas A&M Beef Facility 12:34 Wrap Up and Next Episode

At the SMA Dove Hunt & Fishing Tournament hosted by StartKleen Neil interviews Will Boyd, a StartKleen employee, about his path into the meat industry and sanitation. Boyd shares his background in 4-H/FFA, livestock and meats judging, and meat science at Clarendon College and West Texas A&M, then explains how attending SMA conferences and receiving an SMA scholarship helped him network, meet Rick and the Campbell family, and ultimately join StartKleen despite limited prior sanitation experience. He discusses core sanitation concepts like the importance of physical scrubbing, proper water pressure, chemical concentration, and preventing overspray, and describes his current chief of staff role focused on customer relations, retention, new business development, and travel. The conversation highlights mentoring, culture, parallels between sports discipline and sanitation, and StartKleen’s interest in AI-driven marketing visibility.   Topics 01:27 Will Boyd SMA Path 03:31 From Meat Science 04:35 Sanitation Basics 09:18 Finding His Role 10:06 Why Sanitation Matters 12:14 Sports Lessons 15:20 Scholarships Impact 17:05 Sales Mindset 21:26 Family And Culture 23:27 AI And Marketing 24:29 Wrap Up And Thanks

Brittany Moore and Lacey Bates review key meat industry updates, including FSIS’s expanded Listeria environmental sampling in ready-to-eat (RTE) establishments producing post-lethality exposed products. After a pilot in Raleigh, Chicago, and Alameda adding four environmental swabs (two food contact and two non-food contact), FSIS will expand sampling across all nine districts in phases starting January 2027 to improve early detection of sanitation deficiencies and areas where Listeria can persist; positives may trigger follow-up verification testing or food safety assessments. They also cover recent FSIS PHIS updates affecting noncompliance records (NRs), memos of interview (MOIs), and appeals, including new numbering for records created after September 18 and new functions such as requesting finalized versions after changes. Finally, they discuss Farm Bill 2.0 negotiations as the 2018 Farm Bill extension expires Sept. 30, noting MCOOL for beef as a key House-Senate difference.   Topics 01:07 Listeria Sampling Expansion 02:12 What FSIS Will Test 03:34 Impacts for RTE Plants 04:34 Rollout Timeline Prep 05:47 PHIS Updates Explained 07:10 New NR MOI Numbering 08:15 Farm Bill Deadline 09:36 MCOOL Policy Divide 10:48 What to Watch Next 11:44 Wrap Up and Resources