The only place to hear about the meat industry.

Rebecca Thistlethwaite from NMPAN is back on MeatsPad to review the last two years for small meat processors venturing into building new meat facilities. She also enlisted the most common pitfalls, from inspection to distribution channels, that processors face when starting a processing plant.

This week, we fly over to Spain to visit with Tomas Lopez from Viscofan. Tomas is an International Collagen Casing Expert in the global meat industry.  In this episode, Tomas covers the advantages of collagen casings in terms of production, efficiency, and palatability. We wrap up the interview with a general overview on vacuum stuffers and clippers used in the industry to optimize the quality of fresh sausages and its cost-benefit relationship.

To provide our listenership authentic and genuine successful real stories happening in the U.S. Meat Industry nowadays, we travel to the heart of the Midwest to discover Hertzog Meat Co. This USDA inspected small meat plant, located in Butler, Missouri, opened in 2021 and is proudly providing high-quality American in the Kansas City area. We sat down with Todd Hertzog, owner of Hertzog Meat Co, to ask him how they entered the meat industry market regionally. Todd gives good insights and recommendations to other fellow beef producers seeking to open a new meat processing plant. He also points out the importance of finding the right support and resourceful team leaders in the current meat market.

Continuing with our conversations at AAMP, we sat down with Dr. David Schafer, Professor Emeritus at Kansas State University. Dr. Schafer has been judging cured meat products for more than 50 years.   Meat our host: Dr. David Schafer grew up on a farm in Minnesota and had the privilege of working in the world's first meat laboratory. During his long career he has participated as an official judge in different competitions.  During this interview, Dr. Schafer reveals useful information for meat processors to create high-quality meat products. He also points out some tips to enter products for competition.

Today we are honored to welcome Dr. Terry Houser, an Associate Professor at Iowa State University and Smithfield Foods Chair in Meat Science Extension. Dr. Houser highlights the importance of the Weekly National Carlot Meat Report - USDA where meat processors and retail businesses can analyze current and historical meat prices. He also explains the seasonality effect and the current work force dilemma within the meat industry.