AskHACCP: Do I Need a USDA Inspection to Sell Meat?

If you raise livestock, process meat, or are opening a butcher shop, one of the most common questions we hear is:

“Do I need a USDA inspection to sell meat?”

The answer depends entirely on where and how you plan to sell. Understanding the difference between custom processing, exemptions, and a USDA Grant of Inspection determines what you can legally sell and to whom.

1. What Is a USDA Grant of Inspection?

A Grant of Inspection is formal authorization from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) that allows a facility to slaughter and process meat for commercial sale.

This means:

Full-time inspection during slaughter: An FSIS inspector is present for every slaughter shift to verify humane handling, ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection, sanitation, and food safety compliance.

Intermittent inspection during processing: When facilities only cut, grind, package, or cook inspected meat, inspection coverage is daily but not constant. The inspector reviews operations, records, and sanitation before or during production as needed.

This distinction is important. Slaughter requires continuous on-site inspection, while processing operations function under daily inspection authority.

All products produced under inspection carry the official USDA mark of inspection, which allows meat to be sold wholesale, retail, and across state lines.

If your goal is to sell packaged meat to consumers, restaurants, or distributors, especially beyond your state, a Grant of Inspection is mandatory.

2. When You Don’t Need a USDA Inspection: Custom Processing

Under the Custom Exemption, a facility may process animals for the owner’s personal use without continuous inspection.

Here’s what’s allowed:

• The customer owns the live animal before slaughter.

• Packages are labeled “Not for Sale.”

• Meat may be consumed only by the owner, their family, and non-paying guests.

Custom-exempt facilities are reviewed periodically by state or USDA officials, but do not have daily inspection coverage. Even without continuous inspection, recordkeeping and compliance documentation are mandatory. Facilities must maintain sanitation logs, labeling records, and evidence that animals are processed only for the rightful owners.

This exemption is common for farms offering freezer beef or whole-animal shares, where customers purchase a portion of a live animal before it is processed.

3. Exemptions That Allow Limited Sales

A few exemptions permit limited meat sales without a full USDA inspection. Each exemption has specific boundaries and documentation requirements.

Retail Exemption: A retail butcher shop, grocery store, or market may cut and wrap USDA-inspected meat for direct sale to consumers. Wholesale sales are allowed only within defined limits based on annual poundage and dollar-value thresholds set by FSIS. Retail operations must maintain sanitation and labeling records and demonstrate that any wholesale sales remain within those limits.

Poultry Exemptions: Depending on production volume, poultry producers may process up to 1,000 or 20,000 birds per year without continuous USDA inspection. Facilities must follow good manufacturing practices, maintain cleanable premises and equipment, and keep accurate production and labeling records. All packaging must include the producer’s name, address, and the required exemption statement.

State Inspection Programs: Some states operate inspection programs that are “equal to USDA” in standard and oversight. Products from these programs may be sold within that state only, unless the state participates in the Cooperative Interstate Shipment (CIS) program, which permits limited out-of-state sales under USDA supervision.

4. When Inspection Becomes Mandatory

You will need a USDA Grant of Inspection if:

• You sell meat to restaurants, retailers, or distributors.

• You ship products across state lines.

• You process meat from animals you did not raise or own.

• You plan to use the USDA inspection legend on your labels.

Once you move from custom or exempt production to commercial sales, inspection is no longer optional. It becomes the foundation for verified food safety, lawful labeling, and broader market access. For producers ready to scale, a Grant of Inspection is not a hurdle but a step toward operating with full regulatory authority.

How AgriForaging Can Help

At AgriForaging Compliance Services, we help farmers, butchers, and processors navigate the federal and state inspection landscape with clarity and confidence.

Our team provides:

• Guidance on USDA FSIS and state exemptions

• Grant of Inspection application support

• Custom and retail exemption compliance reviews

• Facility design, HACCP plan, and SOP development

• Training on labeling, recordkeeping, and sanitation

Whether you are expanding your farm’s meat program or opening a new butcher shop, AgriForaging keeps your operation compliant, from custom-exempt to fully inspected.

Knowing where your business fits, whether custom exempt, retail exempt, or USDA inspected, defines how you structure your operation, label your products, and grow your market with confidence and integrity.

Have questions about where your operation fits?

The AskHACCP Hotline offers free, confidential guidance to help you understand inspection categories, exemptions, and compliance requirements before you make big decisions. Nationwide.

📞 845 481 0820 📧 hotline@agriforaging.com 🔗 www.agriforaging.com/ask-haccp