Posted on 03/26/2026 5:42:13 AM PDT by RandFan
@FarmActionUS
Rep. Thomas Massie is on the brink of securing a huge win for small farmers.
His PRIME Act is officially included in the 2026 Farm Bill.
If this passes, it will deliver a blow to Big Ag’s stranglehold on the meatpacking industry.
“This would make it easier for local farmers to sell directly to local consumers using a local slaughterhouse.”
How?
It would cut the USDA out of inspections for local processing facilities.
“You don’t need the USDA to inspect a facility that has seven employees.”
“So what I’ve proposed is that you could just have the local health inspection… inspecting these slaughterhouses.”
“As long as you don’t cross state lines, you shouldn’t need the federal government’s involvement in this processing.”
“The good news is, I got that in the Farm Bill.”
(Excerpt) Read more at x.com ...
“Where’s the line start for me to get on my knees and service him with my mouth?”
What the heck is wrong with you?
America’s food-system is increasingly top-heavy - and thus subject to catastrophic unpredicted risks.
The present cost of beef and historically tiny size of America’s cattle herd is a sign of this, caused by bloated government intervention.
I won’t be buying any meat products from a non inspected slaughterhouse. And I am a small rancher. This is 2026, not 1826. Even inspected food processors have trouble keeping a clean, disease free environment. There are recalls of different products virtually every day. I agree with giving small family farms the right to process and sell their own products, but unless I know them personally, I won’t be buying any of it. I sell my cattle through a local auction barn, and I don’t know where they go after that. And I see animals go through that same barn that I absolutely would not eat...lol. They will now go to a local Somali owned slaughterhouse and wind up at your local grocery store processed by people who wipe with their fingers. Or a local slaughterhouse in San Francisco. The intent may be good, but I will stick with inspected products. If this bill exempts everyone from health inspections unless products are shipped across state lines, then I will either have to slaughter my own beef, or buy from another state. Granted, the USDA inspected sticker on a package doesn’t mean that product is perfect, imagine not requiring it at all.
Sounds like there will be inspections, just by your county or state.
Granted, the USDA inspected sticker on a package doesn’t mean that product is perfect, imagine not requiring it at all.
Yet you propose some good solutions that used to be the inspectors. The market place. Local, reputation, etc.
LOTS of good attributes there that we should get used to. We will have to learn and be educated . There is no perfect system. Let the buyer be ware. It was better then............but not perfect.
I’ve purchased Thanksgiving turkeys and meats from farms that use abattoirs within a 150-mile radius in the state (Kingstree, in Williamsburg County). The Williamsburg Packing Company processes for numerous local farmers, and would benefit plenty. I have seen the difference between local and big ag meat.
Unfortunately, it’s a “Must Pass Bill” mainly because it is loaded with dimocrats’ favorite welfare funds.
There could be inspections by county health offices, However, from what I’ve seen in other county offices the possibility of corruption, kickbacks, and other nefarious activity is high. For instance, I might accept the results of my county here in Texas, (A big MIGHT) but probably wouldn’t if I lived near one of the big “blue” cities. Somehow , since I was raised on a farm, images of cholera infected hogs, cancer eye cows, and screw worm larvae imbedded in hindquarters keep coming up. I guess it gives us the choice to choose the level of inspection we think we want, county, state, or Federal. Or none at all. And If I keep thinking about this subject, and keep posting, I’m going vegetarian, out of my own garden here...lol.
“ Local beef raisers here sell beef directly to consumers.”
Same in Idaho. Local meat producers / ranchers sell directly at farmers markets.
True. I’m not opposed to the bill, but buyer beware. Like most laws passed at least since Eisenhower was president, the potential for abuse and misapplication is high...I’m going to bet that at least some animals that wouldn’t have made the grade wind up on store shelves. Cook your meat a bit more done in the future...lol.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10178114/
Food irradiation is a proven method commonly used for enhancing the safety and quality of meat. This technology effectively reduces the growth of microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites.
If passed, it will be his only accomplishment.
One of the reasons, I eat all meat very well done and have for 40 years now.
That would, unfortunately, gut the graft these scum feed off.
Yay, more farmers selling “grass fed beef” for $40/lb
The USDA should be abolished.
Meat inspecting can be handled by insurance as a function of monthly/yearly risk coverage.
Insurance in the modern sense didn’t exist in the progressive era.
This is entirely useless government, entirely useless grift and taxpayer shouldering.
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