Many of these small-scale farmers faced a problem: they were looking to expand their operations and access niche markets by producing free-range or organic poultry, but they were limited to selling whole live products because their production was insufficient to justify the expenses associated with commercial processing facilities. KYSU's Cooperative Extension Program wanted to create a service that could help these small, limited-resource, under-served producers in a practical way.
To use the processing unit, producers must complete a one-day training course, which must be renewed every two years. This course certifies the trained individuals to become facility managers, thus allowing them to process their own products. Products processed in the unit are able to be sold at markets anywhere in the state. By utilizing this unit, farmers can process their animals at a lower cost than if they utilized a private processor.
In 2001, after several years of planning and developing partnerships with several organizations across the state, Kentucky State acquired a mobile processing unit for poultry, rabbits and fish. The unit is a 20-feet-long, 8-feet-wide trailer that is equipped with a hot water heater, water lines and electricity. The unit contains everything needed to process poultry (excluding waterfowl), rabbits and various aquaculture species. Farmers only have to provide their own knives.
or nearly twenty years, Kentucky State University (KYSU)'s Land Grant Program has worked with small-scale poultry, rabbit and aquaculture producers from around the state to help them safely process their animals.
Steve Skelton, a farm technician and member of the Small Farm Program staff, manages to mobile processing unit. "Cost and pride in your product are the bottom line for using this facility for processing," he says. "This unit
allows the farmers to take pride in how they raise their animals."
Producers wishing to process poultry or rabbits must do so at one of the approved docking stations: one is located at KYSU's Harold R. Benson Research and Demonstration Farm in Frankfort, Ky., one is at the farm at Morehead State University in Morehead, Ky., and a third location is currently under construction at the Laurel County African American Heritage Center.
The unit is more in demand than ever. In the past year, the unit was utilized by seven FFA chapters, two 4-H clubs, and numerous farmers across the Commonwealth. The mobile processing unit was also showcased at the Sunbelt Agriculture Expo in Moultrie, Ga., in October where various organizations learned how they could potentially replicate the unit in their own state.
KYSU's mobile processing unit is considered a pioneer in mobile processing, and many producers and organizations from across the country have visited it or requested information about replicating it.
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Poultry, or more specifically broilers, is Kentucky's leading agriculture commodity. The state's poultry industry is valued at over $1 billion and directly employs more than 7,000 people.
For more information about the mobile processing unit or to use its services, contact Steve Skelton at (502) 597-6103 or steven.skelton@kysu.edu.