Small farm processing

The state of Connecticut is moving forward in helping small poultry producers process their birds on the farm. The Waterbury Republican-American reported about the first approval from the state Bureau of Regulation and Inspections at the Department of Agriculture:

MarWin first farm in 50 years to get slaughter OK

BY BRIGITTE RUTHMAN REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

NEW HARTFORD — Small poultry farms, like family dairies, were a vanishing breed by the time buzz words like "sustainable agriculture" and "locally grown" began drawing them back.

As part of those trends, MarWin Farm on Steele Road has won the first state license in 50 years to slaughter poultry at its facility. For state inspectors, it meant dusting off the regulations.

"We are new to this," said Wayne Kasacek, assistant director of the state's Bureau of Regulation and Inspections at the Department of Agriculture. "We haven't done slaughter inspections at a poultry facility since the 1960s."

The state publishes a guide to custom slaughtering, but it specifically excludes poultry for sale, so perhaps it's out of date.