Farmers Union Industries, LLC

Farmers Union Industries, LLC operates a USDA-inspected hog slaughter and meat processing plant at 2421 9th Avenue South in Estherville, Emmet County, Iowa, doing business as Redwood Farms Meat Processors. The establishment holds numbers M21898 and V21898 and is listed with FSIS for meat slaughter, meat processing, and export certification. The grant of inspection date on file is August 26, 2021. FSIS classifies the plant as small, with a slaughter volume category of 4.0. Hogs are the only species reported as slaughtered under inspection, and no custom-exempt activity is reported to FSIS.

The company website describes Redwood Farms Meat Processors as a hog processing facility that creates a market for every hog, no matter its size, which the company says allows it to offer a variety of sizes and cuts. Cuts listed include butts and picnics, ribs, pork loins, offal items, pork trim, and pork bellies. The site states that its pork products travel to Mexico, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean islands, consistent with the export certification listed in the federal record.

Redwood Farms is one of six divisions of Farmers Union Industries, LLC, which describes its origins in 1915 when livestock producers banded together to market products collaboratively, and its formal growth from 1929 onward. Farmers Union Industries is organized as a corporation and equally owned by the Farmers Union organizations of Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, governed by a 13 member Board of Governors. Details on retail sales, custom booking, hours, and cut and wrap for individual customers are not stated in the sources on file.

The plant reports hog slaughter and meat processing to FSIS and is listed as a small establishment with a slaughter volume category of 4.0. No custom-exempt activity is reported, so the federal record does not indicate custom processing of animals for an owner's own use. The website says the facility creates a market for every hog, no matter its size, which suggests a buying rather than fee-for-service relationship, but booking procedures, minimums, scheduling, and fees are not stated in the sources on file. Producers should contact the plant directly at (712) 362-2225 or info@redwoodfarmsmp.com to confirm what it accepts, as listed.

Farmers Union Industries, LLC operates under a federal grant of inspection, so product from this plant can be sold anywhere in the United States, which matters if you sell online or across a state line. FSIS does not list a custom-exempt activity for this plant.