Agricultural

Marketing 

Service

March 2020

True & Essential (T&E) Meats 

Harrisonburg, VA

AMS GRANTS AWARDED

Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) 2014

Planning Grant for $22,320

Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) 2017 

Implementation Grant for $370,532

Project types: Facility Planning & Design Assistance, 

Equipment & Labor Costs, Inventory Control and 

Traceback, Specialized Training, Product Development

HISTORY OF BUSINESS OR PROJECT

T&E Meats was founded in 2007 when former urban 

planner and landscape architect, Joe Cloud, and wellknown farmer, Joel Salatin, joined forces to save an old 

1939 USDA-inspected meat processing plant, in the verdant 

Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Since then, T&E Meats has 

become a well-established processor, offering inspected 

co-packing services on a fee basis to farmers marketing 

independently. In addition, they do extensive custom 

processing also known as “locker meats.” They were first 

awarded an LFPP planning grant in 2014 to conduct a 

feasibility study and Long-Range Facility Development Plan, 

in partnership with an architectural firm, to determine the 

most effective, efficient, and economical way to expand 

their USDA-inspected small meat processing facility to 

accommodate more farmers.

Upon completion of the feasibility study and further 

evaluation, together with continued growth in demand for 

services from their customer base, the team concluded 

that the proposed renovations and expansion were indeed 

viable and necessary. In 2017, they applied for and were 

awarded a second LFPP grant, this time for project 

Federal funding helps established red meat processor serve more farmers 

and provide value-added processing services.

implementation. This funding catalyzed implementation 

of several large projects to improve customer service and 

allowed for production of value-added products, which 

complimented physical expansion of the plant.

One major project component included researching, 

acquiring, and installing a comprehensive labeling and 

traceability program that uses bar-coding to allow product 

tracking from the live animal to the finished package. A 

second major project component involved the purchase 

of a quality smokehouse, as well as training and technical 

support to implement value-added processing services. 

Consequently, farmers in Virginia now have access to 

reliable further processing services for the first time, 

allowing them to sell higher margin value-added products, 

and increase market opportunities and profitability. By 

January of 2019, the tracking hardware and software 

system (Carlisle Technology’s Symphony System) was 

installed and staff training had commenced.

WHY THEY CHOSE TO APPLY FOR AN AMS 

GRANT/WHAT AN AMS GRANT MEANT FOR 

THEIR BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION?

While T&E Meats likely would have expanded and upgraded 

their systems and services over time, without USDA 

funding. Joe Cloud said, “I am pretty sure that we would 

have done the project eventually, but we would have had to 

put it off a year, or three, or longer. We definitely couldn’t 

afford it at the time. And it takes a long time to get from 

planning to implementation. We have almost outgrown our 

space now. If we only started planning this year, or last year, 

we would still be a ways off from expanding."
Instead of always playing catch up and being 3-5 years 

out from what they need today, the LFPP grants allowed 

T&E Meats to more closely mirror the demand for their 

services and the volumes they need to remain viable and 

thrive. Their expansion has also allowed them to process 

for more farmers under inspection and those farmers 

now have more options and opportunities to market their 

meat, especially with improved packaging, labeling, and 

traceability options. 

In 2007, only four farmers used T&E Meats to process meat 

under inspection and pack it under their own label. Now 

over 100 farmer customers use their services. They are a 

critical link in the regional meat supply.

Joe also had this to say about how the LFPP-funded 

planning process improved their business planning skills: 

“The planning of the project forced us to look very carefully 

at our operational processes, and at other industry 

models, and to examine in detail numerous functional 

considerations for workflow, food safety, maintenance, 

sanitation, customer interface, etc. Basically everything 

about our operations that I took for granted. It isn’t free 

money – you work very hard for it.”

KEY IMPACTS OF THE GRANT, 

SHORT-TERM AND LONGER-TERM

T&E Meats knew going into the grant-making process that 

some form of facility expansion was necessary, based on 

customer surveys and their current growth rates, as well as 

a frank assessment of the condition of their aging facility. 

Without expansion, they could not keep up with their 

customers’ basic production needs, nor could they innovate 

to provide new value-added processing services for cured 

and smoked meats, and eventually ready-to-eat foods. 

Their Long-Range Facility Development Plan provided plant 

management with a good foundation, including orderof-magnitude costs, multiple alternative development 

scenarios, a phasing plan, and a better understanding of 

the capabilities and constraints of their existing facility and 

its systems.

This project successfully targeted public investment 

to create a sustainable business. They were at or near 

production capacity with excess demand and wanted 

to build out their facility to add new services. They had 

sufficient experience, knowledge of other processing 

capacity in their multi-state region, and data from customer 

surveys, to feel confident in their expansion decisions. 

They were hampered specifically by access to capital, but 

the LFPP funding allowed them to focus their commercial 

borrowing power on the brick-and-mortar project and use 

grant monies for equipment costs and “soft” costs such as 

employee training.

WHERE THEY WOULD LIKE TO GO NEXT

Joe’s success is directly tied to that of the producers he 

works with through this business. Although T&E prides 

themselves on their relationships with their customers, in 

his 10 years in the meat business, Joe said he has met his 

share of processors and farmers who view each other 

as adversaries.

“If the farmer doesn’t make money, I can’t stay in business. 

It’s in my best interest as a processor to help farmers 

succeed," Joe said.

Joe’s top priorities are serving his farmer customers by 

adding more value-added processing options as well as 

fully utilizing all the features of their new traceability and 

tracking software to expand their customers’ access to 

market. As of April 2019, the plant offers USDA-inspected 

cured and uncured “ready-to-cook” bacon and ham 

products. Future plans include adding “ready-to-eat” 

products such as beef jerky, snack sticks, hot dogs, 

smoked sausages, and more as they fine tune their 

systems and pathogen testing protocols. They are also 

looking for the right staff to develop and oversee the valueadded programs.

REFERENCES/LINKS

https://americanfarmpublications.com/cloud-makeschoice-cuts-after-reviving-stagnant-te-meats/

https://www.whsv.com/content/news/TE-Meatsexpanding-Harrisonburg-facility-with-600Kinvestment-392041761.html

CONTACT INFORMATION

Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network

Rebecca Thistlethwaite

Email: thistler@oregonstate.edu

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service

Samantha Schaffstall

Email: samantha.schaffstall@usda.gov

This case study was 

created in fulfillment of 

a cooperative research 

agreement between 

the Marketing Services 

Division of the Agricultural Marketing Service of the United 

States Department of Agriculture (USDA AMS) and Oregon 

State University’s Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network 

(NMPAN).

Photo Credit: USDA

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, 

and lender.