Producers Partnership

Producers Partnership operates a very small federally inspected plant at 346 Frontage Road East in Livingston, Park County, Montana, under establishment numbers M47674 and V47674. The FSIS directory lists meat slaughter and meat processing along with voluntary slaughter and voluntary processing of meat, with a grant of inspection date on file of June 22, 2023. Species reported slaughtered under inspection are cattle, hogs, sheep and lamb, and bison. The plant also reports custom-exempt slaughter, in which animals owned by the customer are processed and the packages are marked Not for Sale. Reported slaughter volume falls in the lowest FSIS category, under 1,000 head per year.

The organization's website describes The Producer Partnership, a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in Spring 2020 with the stated mission of ending hunger in Montana. According to the site, the group partners with livestock producers who donate animals, processes those animals at its own federally inspected facility, and distributes the meat through the Montana Food Bank Network, schools, and other approved nonprofits. The site states that since founding it has gained 501(c)3 status, hired staff, built its own facility, gained federal inspection, and donated nearly 250,000 pounds of Montana-raised animal protein. It describes itself as the first federally inspected, owned, and operated nonprofit processing facility in Montana and the nation.

The website reports a September 2023 delivery of more than 40,000 pounds of ground beef, breakfast sausage, and pork to ten Montana cities, including Family Service in Billings, the Salvation Army in Great Falls, and Helena Food Share. It also references a meat processing apprenticeship program, Pathways in Protein, with Joliet Public Schools, and a facility tour by Governor Greg Gianforte on November 5, 2025. The website does not describe retail sales, price lists, or fee-for-service custom processing terms, so those details beyond the federal record are not on file.

The website describes a donation pathway rather than a conventional custom kill schedule. A producer selects one or more animals from the herd, which may be a cull or injured animal, and the site states the animal must be able to walk into the facility. The organization coordinates a pickup or drop off location, processes the animal at no charge at its federally inspected facility, and issues the producer a tax contribution letter stating the amount of protein processed from the donation. Separately, the FSIS record shows the plant reports custom-exempt slaughter of customer-owned animals with packages marked Not for Sale, and lists cattle, hogs, sheep and lamb, and bison as species slaughtered under inspection. Booking procedures, lead times, minimums, and any cut and wrap fees for private custom work are not stated in the sources.

Producers Partnership 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.