In a chilly warehouse in North Haverhill on a recent morning, a team of men wielding chainsaws and knives efficiently turn a hog carcass into chops, loins and cuts that will soon end up on restaurants tables and supermarket cases across this part of New England.
“You know, people need food,” says Greg Marsh, general manager of Montshire Packing, a slaughterhouse, noting that for the most part, “people like to eat meat.”
Montshire Packing processes 35 to 40 cattle and roughly 70 pigs per week, a relatively small number compared to the industry giants in the midwest and southern United States.
But the slaughterhouse is looking to double and possibly triple its capacity in the coming years. And it’s getting a financial boost from the state: Last week, Montshire was one of eight recipients of the Meat Processing Grant Program, a $750,000 project funded by federal American Rescue Plan money aimed at bolstering local food production.
States around the country are making similar investments, after COVID revealed where the agriculture supply chain can get stretched thin. COVID outbreaks shuttered processors in the south, leaving some products unavailable, while a huge influx of demand for local meat from a new wave of amateur chefs stuck at home left processors like Montshire unable to keep up.
“There were a lot of issues with staffing, people taking time off for COVID for themselves or their family,” says Marsh. “And it became really tough to fill those meat cases.”
Montshire is one of four USDA-certified facilities in the state that process beef and pork that then gets sold to customers. There are also chicken processors, as well as other businesses in the state that will process farm animals for personal consumption, as opposed to retail sales.
Local farmers rely on these slaughterhouses to turn their animals into profitable inventory.
“I would say a large majority of our beef and pork comes from less than 30 miles from this facility,” says Marsh.
The processed meat stays local too, often ending up in restaurants, retail stores and local farmers markets.
Carol Soule, who owns and operates Miles Smith Farm in Canterbury, raises on average two to four beef cattle per month. She has those animals butchered at Montshire, as well as another facility in Massachusetts.
She watched as demand for her beef ballooned during the pandemic.
“It was crazy. It was insane,” says Soule.
Since then, she says interest in local meats has declined, though sales are still above pre-pandemic levels. Still, she says expanding the capacity at local slaughterhouses is an investment she supports.
“That facility is making it possible for me to farm,” says Soule. “I have to send it somewhere, and if I don't have a place to send it, I lose that money.”
Meat processing is a cyclical business: Demand is typically slower in late winter, but during the fall and holiday season, farmers jostle for appointments.
“It's almost like peak energy use when the air conditioners are on,” says Josh Marshall, with the state’s Department of Agriculture.
The grants are intended to help ensure there is enough capacity during even the busiest weeks of the year. Marshall says another challenge facing the industry right now is workforce. Meat processing jobs generally pay well, but it's tough work: The processing rooms are cold, the knives are sharp, the pace is quick.
The state is hoping to use another $260,000 in APRA funds to launch a new certification program this year through UNH Extension, including a possible mobile butchering classroom.
Ultimately, Marshall says, these initiatives are all in an effort to prepare in advance of the next disruption.
“I think it adds to the resiliency of our food supply,” says Marshall. “What we saw in COVID when the supply chains just sort of shuttered was: we need to be able to have some semblance of our own food systems in the northeast region.”
