The checklist
Process at an inspected plant
Custom-exempt meat is stamped “Not for Sale” and can’t be sold. Cuts for sale must come from a USDA-inspected plant, or a Texas state-inspected plant if every sale stays in Texas. Online sales and buyers in other states need USDA inspection.
Get your labels right
Each package needs the product name, net weight, the mark of inspection and handling instructions. Your processor prints these. Claims such as “grass fed,” “natural” or how the animal was raised need FSIS approval first (9 CFR 412.1). For beef, FSIS approves “no hormones administered” with documentation.
Check your Texas license
Texas A&M AgriLife’s direct beef handbook reports that most direct beef sales businesses need a Food Manufacturer License from DSHS, whether they sell from the ranch, online, at farmers’ markets or to restaurants. A storefront may need a Retail Food Operations Permit instead. Selling a live animal needs no DSHS permit. Confirm with DSHS and your county.
Store and deliver it cold
Keep frozen product frozen from pickup to customer, and keep records of what you sold to whom.
Selling halves and quarters instead
Many ranchers sell the live animal, or a share of it, before slaughter. The buyers own the animal when it is processed custom-exempt and take their share home for their own household. Each buyer gets their own cut sheet. This avoids retail labeling, but the meat can’t be resold.
How Creek Ranch helps
- USDA-inspected slaughter and processing, Est. M2146
- Vacuum-packed, boxed product with the USDA mark
- Private labels with your farm name and logo
- Label claim paperwork submitted to USDA for $250
See private label & selling meat or call (254) 329-6292.
Sources
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Where’s the Beef? direct beef sales handbook (AGEC-PU-184, 2024)
- 9 CFR 412.1, label approval: eCFR
- FSIS, Meat and poultry labeling terms
- Texas DSHS Meat Safety Assurance: dshs.texas.gov
General information, not legal advice. Licensing rules and fees change; check with DSHS before you start selling.