Making Headway: MPPU Poultry Co-Processing

NABC has been pursuing options for small-scale poultry farmers to legally co-process birds through the Mobile Poultry Processing Unit (MPPU)that are intended for sale.  We’ve received exciting news: the WSDA has tentatively approved draft safe handling protocols which could enable multiple businesses to assign their WSDA Processing License to a single mobile processing site, and process birds under WSDA approval.  This means that micro-entrepreneurs with small batches of birds can potentially share the fees that support the cost of operating the MPPU, making access to on-site processing feasible and affordable even when the distance to the nearest stationary facility is prohibitively far, as can be the case for island-based or deep- rural farms.

Next steps: 1) identify a storage solution – with the Processing License attached to the processing site rather than the home farm, the storage units (fridge, freezer) on the home

farm would no longer be inspected and approved for product storage, 2) work with insurance companies on product and processing site (host farm) insurance, and 3) clearing product handling with County Health Departments.  A long but promising journey ahead!