Key's Family Butcher Shop

Key's Family Butcher Shop operates at 2900 Oliver Springs Rd in Van Buren, Arkansas, in Crawford County, under establishment numbers M10650, P10650 and V10650. The federal record lists meat and poultry slaughter and processing, identification for meat and poultry, and voluntary slaughter and processing for meat and rabbit. FSIS classifies the plant as Very Small, with a grant of inspection date on file of July 13, 2021. Species slaughtered under inspection as reported to FSIS are cattle, hogs, and sheep and lamb, with a reported slaughter volume category of under 1,000 head per year. The plant also reports custom-exempt slaughter, in which animals owned by the customer are processed and packages are marked Not for Sale, and retail-exempt sales.

The shop's website describes three processing tracks: custom-exempt processing for animals going to the family table, USDA-inspected processing for meat that will be resold, and wild game processing for deer, elk, bear and wild hog harvested during hunts. The services page states that wild game orders are currently not being accepted. The website says the operation processes beef, hogs, bison, sheep, goats and poultry, a broader list than the species reported to FSIS, and describes handling all facets of processing in house rather than shipping partly processed meat to other facilities. The site emphasizes traceability back to the farm of origin and states that operations are 100% USDA and Animal Welfare Approved.

According to the website history page, the plant was originally built by the Lasiter family in the late 1950s as a one-room slaughter house, was sold to the Garner family in 1962, and became a USDA facility in the early 1980s with cooler and freezer space for both custom and inspected slaughter. The Key family purchased the business on December 15, 2009, when it operated as Garner Abattoir, and it was formerly known as Advanced Meat Processing. Poultry slaughter under USDA inspection was added in 2013. Roger and Rita Key run the operation, with Rita joining daily operations in December 2017. A smokehouse and a fully cooked program were added later, along with online ordering for some products.

The plant reports custom-exempt slaughter to FSIS, where the customer owns the animal and packages are marked Not for Sale, and its website offers custom-exempt processing for animals going to the family table as well as USDA-inspected processing for meat intended for resale. Cut sheet forms for each track are linked from the services page. Species slaughtered under federal inspection as reported to FSIS are cattle, hogs, and sheep and lamb; the website also names bison, goats and poultry among species processed. FSIS lists slaughter volume as under 1,000 head per year and the size class as Very Small. The website states that all facets of processing are done in house and that meat is documented back to the farm it came from. Booking procedures, scheduling lead times, minimums, kill fees and cut and wrap rates are not stated in the sources on file.

Key's Family Butcher Shop reports custom-exempt slaughter to FSIS, which means it can process an animal a customer already owns (a whole, half, or share bought before slaughter) and return it in packages marked Not for Sale. Most small farms have one or two plants they book with, and the plant's calendar decides the delivery date.

The plant reports retail-exempt sales to FSIS, and the website sells beef jerky online in a range of flavors priced at $11.00 for most varieties, with The World's Hottest listed at a sale price of $19.95 from $29.95. The site also promotes smoked beef, pork and chicken from its smokehouse as ready-to-eat meals. Restaurants and organizations can apply through the wholesalers page for a password to order case quantities at a reduced price. Whether halves and quarters, retail counter cuts, bundles, delivery or shipping are offered is not stated in the sources on file.

If you are buying a half or quarter animal, the plant is where the animal is processed; the farm sells you the animal. Read how to buy a half cow for the sequence and the math.