Meridian Meat Packers

Meridian Meat Packers operates at 245 E. Blue Heron Lane in Meridian, Ada County, Idaho, under FSIS establishment numbers M45911, P45911, and V45911. The federal record lists poultry slaughter and poultry processing, plus voluntary inspection activities covering meat, poultry, and rabbit processing and poultry and rabbit slaughter. FSIS classifies the plant as Very Small, records a grant of inspection dated February 5, 2021, and lists poultry as the species slaughtered under inspection. The plant also reports custom-exempt slaughter, in which animals owned by the customer are processed and the packages are marked Not for Sale, and reports retail-exempt sales. Its reported slaughter volume category is 2.0.

The website states the Schwerd family has operated the business since 1956 and describes four generations of experience in meat packing. Listed specialties are beef jerky and beef sticks, mobile butchering, poultry processing, wild game, and holiday smoked turkeys. The poultry page describes the operation as the only USDA facility in Idaho for chicken and turkey processing, in a joint business described as Idaho's Own Poultry, and covers butchering, plucking, and packaging of birds either whole, air-chilled and shrink bagged, or cut up and vacuum sealed on trays.

For animals other than poultry, the plant describes a mobile butchering unit equipped for beef, pig, and lamb, serving Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell, Homedale, Wilder, Parma, and surrounding areas of the Treasure Valley. Retail products center on Ed's Western Style Beef Jerky and beef sticks, which the site says ship nationwide. Hours are not stated in the sources on file.

Poultry producers can book chicken and turkey processing by phone. Listed chicken prices are $6.00 for a whole bird, $8.00 for a bird cut in half, $10.00 for a cut up bird ($4 processing plus $4 cut up fee), and $8.00 for roosters and laying hens, with a $2.00 additional charge when gizzards, heart, and liver are requested; that request must be made at booking and again at drop off. Feet can be kept if deemed acceptable by USDA inspectors. Turkeys are listed at $1.20 per pound, with an additional $10 for smoking. For cattle, hogs, and sheep, the mobile unit travels to the farm. Listed kill fees start at $150 for Boise, Meridian, and Nampa, $160 for Middleton, Kuna, and Eagle, $180 for Homedale, and $200 for Mountain Home; bulls carry a $200 minimum, and emergency kills carry a $300 minimum, subject to schedule. Kill fees are paid on site by cash or check directly to the butchers, and prices may change with fuel and distance. Cut and wrap is listed at $0.90 per pound for beef under 900 pounds hanging weight, $1.05 per pound above 900 pounds, $1.05 per pound for all hamburger beef, and $1.25 per pound for patties with a 50 pound minimum. Pork is $1.15 per pound without curing and smoking or $1.50 per pound with cured and smoked hams and bacon. Lamb and sheep cut and wrap is a $110.00 flat fee. Product is cellophane cling-wrapped, paper wrapped, and stamped, with vacuum packing available on request for an additional $0.35 per pound. Cutting order sheets for beef and pork can be downloaded, printed, and brought in. Appointments are made by calling 208-888-1877, as listed.

Meridian Meat Packers 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 site invites customers to visit the store at 245 E. Blue Heron Lane in Meridian to buy Ed's Western Style Beef Jerky and beef sticks. Listed prices are $20.00 for jerky and $12.00 for beef sticks, each bag weighed to 12.0 ounces, tax not included. Buyers outside the Treasure Valley are directed to call 208-888-1877 to order, as the site states it ships nationwide. Holiday smoked turkeys are named as a specialty. The plant reports retail-exempt sales to FSIS. Halves and quarters, bundles, delivery, and online ordering are not mentioned 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.