State Meat Inspection Programs: All 30 States Listed for 2026

Start here. If your state is on this list, there are three kinds of plants near you: federal, state, and custom-exempt. If it is not, there are two: federal and custom-exempt. A state legend on a package is only legal in the state that applied it, so the first thing to know is whether your state has a program at all.

Notes on the table. Program scope follows the National Agricultural Law Center's 2021 map, which shows Georgia and South Dakota running meat-only programs; Oregon and Arkansas signed meat agreements in 2022. Long-standing means the program was among the 27 in place as of FY2019, before Oregon joined; we list a year only where FSIS, USDA, or the state legislature has published one. Minnesota's program was created by the 1998 Legislature (Minnesota Session Laws 1998, chapter 401). The 20 states with no program are Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Washington, plus the District of Columbia.

The formal name is the State-Federal Cooperative Inspection Program, and FSIS calls the state side a Meat and Poultry Inspection (MPI) program. It exists because of two federal laws: the Wholesome Meat Act of December 15, 1967 (Public Law 90-201), which amended the Federal Meat Inspection Act, and the Wholesome Poultry Products Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-492), which did the same for poultry. Before those laws, meat sold only inside a state was outside federal inspection entirely. After them, every plant selling meat had to be inspected, and the state could do the inspecting itself if its program met the federal bar.

In practice a state program means state-employed inspectors, paid with state money and reimbursed by FSIS up to half, stationed in plants the same way federal inspectors are: present during slaughter, examining animals before and carcasses after, verifying sanitation and HACCP records. FSIS audits each program at least annually under FSIS Directives 5720.2 and 5720.3. At least equal to means a state may be stricter than FSIS; it may not be looser. The FY2026 appropriation for state programs was $15.2 million, up from $14.5 million in FY2025, per USDA's Nevada announcement.

State programs also carry two side duties. They review custom-exempt plants in their state under FSIS Directive 8160.1, and they administer state overlays on the poultry exemptions. When you see a state plant list, it typically includes all three categories: state-inspected, custom-exempt, and exempt poultry.

The Congressional Research Service put the number of state-inspected establishments at about 1,450 across 29 states in October 2024. Those plants can sell to any buyer in the state, which for a small farm is the whole difference between selling a half-cow and selling steaks. A farm that processes at a state plant can sell individual cuts at its own stand, deliver to local restaurants, and ship inside the state. The moment a customer across the line wants a box, the farm needs a federal or CIS plant. The Cooperative Interstate Shipment program exists to close that gap for plants with 25 or fewer employees; it is covered in the CIS guide.

Under the Talmadge-Aiken Act of September 28, 1962 (7 U.S.C. 450), implemented at 9 CFR 321.2, FSIS may use state employees and facilities to carry out federal functions under the Federal Meat Inspection Act. A Talmadge-Aiken plant, sometimes called a federal-state cooperative plant, is a federally inspected establishment where the inspector on the floor works for the state agency. The inspector follows FSIS directives, records tasks in FSIS's Public Health Information System, and the product carries the federal legend and can ship anywhere.

FSIS's FY2025 annual report on the program lists 12 active agreements across seven FSIS districts covering 406 federally inspected establishments as of September 30, 2025, in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia. For a buyer, a Talmadge-Aiken plant is a federal plant. It appears in the FSIS directory with a federal establishment number, and its meat can cross state lines. Do not confuse it with a state-inspected plant just because the state agency employs the inspector.

State-inspected plants are not in the FSIS Meat, Poultry and Egg Product Inspection Directory. That directory, which our processor registry is built from, lists establishments regulated by FSIS under the federal acts: federal grants, Talmadge-Aiken plants, and CIS selected establishments. A plant that holds only a state grant appears only on the state agency's list.

To find a state plant, go to the state agency, not to USDA. Each state page on this site links to the agency that runs the program and to its published establishment list where one exists. Some states publish a downloadable directory with the plant's inspection type (state, custom, exempt poultry); others publish a searchable page or a PDF. Where a state also lists custom-exempt plants, that list is the best available map of where half-cow buyers can have an animal processed.

The 1967 and 1968 acts required every state to choose between building an at least equal to program or letting FSIS take over inspection of its in-state plants. Many states that built programs later dropped them, which is why big livestock states such as California, Colorado, Nebraska, and Kentucky have none today; every plant there is federal. Georgia's program, per USDA's July 2026 announcement, has been inspecting for nearly six decades.

The recent additions came from the other direction. Oregon built a program and FSIS finalized its cooperative agreement on July 28, 2022, making Oregon the 28th state and the first on the West Coast. Arkansas followed on October 4, 2022 as the 29th. Nevada was announced on November 25, 2025 as the 30th, the first addition since 2022. In each case the press release used the same language: the state must develop, administer, and enforce requirements at least equal to the Federal Meat Inspection Act, and FSIS provides up to 50 percent of operating funds plus training.

The count is 30 in 2026 and may rise; it does not fall quietly. A state that dropped its program would trigger federal designation of its plants under the acts, a public process. If a state joins after this guide's update date, the state's own page will reflect it first.

• In an MPI state, a farm can legally sell you cuts processed at a state plant. Ask which plant and confirm it is on the state list. Prices for individual cuts are in local meat vs grocery store prices.
• In a non-MPI state, any cut you buy from a farm came from a federal plant or was processed out of state at a federal plant. Custom-exempt is still available for whole and half animals.
• Buying across state lines, the seller must use a federal plant or a CIS plant regardless of where either of you lives. Producers on our shipping list meet that test.
• Buying a half or quarter, the state program is largely irrelevant; the custom exemption governs, and the state's animal-share rules matter more. See animal shares and herd shares.

The three routes are compared in full in USDA vs state vs custom-exempt.