Ranchers Form Co-Op to Address Meat Processing Bottleneck

Small to mid-size ranchers in the Bay Area are used to driving long distances to one of just a handful of USDA-approved slaughtering facilities in the state. They have learned to manage the logistical acrobatics required to keep their businesses running. They book time slots to harvest months ahead of time—without fully knowing demand or what state their livestock will be in—and make the long drive every time.

But that won’t be the case any longer, at least for ranchers who are part of the newly established Bay Area Ranchers Co-Operative (BAR-C). Once up and running, the cooperative will alleviate a bottleneck that’s been narrowing in the industry for years, giving Bay Area ranchers an option to process their meat locally.

Read the rest at Civil Eats