Yakima Valley farmer faces issues getting meat to its customers

YAKIMA VALLEY, Wash. — For Ruth Babcock, being able to sell cheese again here at the University District Farmer's Market is a big boon to her business.

“Huge. Very big. We are worried that there are other markets that won't open in time,” Babcock said.

On top of that, Babcock’s farm, Tieton Farm & Creamery in the Yakima Valley, is facing issues getting meat to its market customers.

But for some reason, their USDA inspected butcher won't process their animals right now. Which means Babcock can't sell meat at the market.

“We are unaware of exactly why our butcher shop couldn't take our animals anymore. All the other small farmers we heard from as well that use that shop said they could not take animals from the small farms,” Babcock explained.

Babcock says it's the only USDA inspected butcher in her area. So now the farm is hoping to move the meat by turning to custom butchering through the Washington State Department of Agriculture. In order to do that , customers have to buy the animals before they're butchered. Custom butchering is usually about half of the farm's meat business.

“We have to find customers that are willing to sign up ahead of time, for a half or whole animal and wait for that fairly large amount of meat to come and have a way to store it,” said Babcock.

Coronavirus has hit the meat industry hard. Closures at meat packing plants have led to worries of a meat shortage and concerns that, without a place to send them for processing, farmers would have to euthanize some animals.

“That is horrible. We are so small that we are not going to be in that situation. That’s not going to happen to us,” Babcock said.

Because Tieton Farm knows not everyone may have the freezer space, they're letting people buy smaller options like an 1/8th of a cow and 1/2 of a lamb or goat.

If anything, she hopes the pandemic will prompt people to re-think how and where they get their food. And, maybe, support local farmers like herself.

“It's one of the silver linings that we hope for. That people will realize - they can count on it better,” Babcock said.

For more information about custom butchering, contact the farm directly.

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