Prairie Packing

Prairie Packing operates at 1200 Texas Avenue in Comanche, Oklahoma, in Stephens County, under FSIS establishment numbers M3730, P3730, and V3730. The federal record lists meat processing, meat slaughter, poultry processing, poultry slaughter, and voluntary meat processing and slaughter, with a grant of inspection date on file of August 26, 2025. FSIS classifies the plant as very small, and its reported slaughter volume category is under 1,000 head per year. Species reported slaughtered under inspection are cattle, hogs, sheep and lamb, bison, and poultry. The plant also reports custom-exempt slaughter, where the customer owns the animal and packages are marked Not for Sale, and reports retail-exempt sales.

The company website describes custom beef, deer, poultry, lamb, and pork processing, with each order cut to the customer's written specifications. Cut sheets are published online for beef, deer, pork, lamb and goat, and poultry, and can be submitted through the site or downloaded as PDFs. The site describes a process that begins with a scheduled harvest date, moves the carcass to a hot box for a 24-hour rapid chill at 30 degrees, then to an aging cooler for up to three weeks with monitored temperature and humidity, and finishes with a 24-hour blast freeze at minus 20 degrees. Standard aging is stated as 14 days on beef and seven days on pork. Every animal is assigned a unique ID number at intake that follows the carcass through harvest, aging, fabrication, and packaging.

One point of difference is worth noting for buyers. The plant appears in the federal FSIS directory with meat and poultry establishment numbers, and a search snippet describes it as USDA-inspected, while several pages of its own website describe it as a state-licensed meat processor located in Comanche. A MapQuest listing gives the address as 122 Texas Ave, while the FSIS record and the website both give 1200 Texas Ave. Ownership, founding date, hours, and pricing are not stated in the material on file.

The website instructs producers to call the office at (580) 439-5670 to schedule a harvest date. Harvest typically happens Monday and Tuesday, with special days reserved for pigs, lambs, and goats. Animals must be dropped off by 8:00 AM on the scheduled day, and the site asks that customers stay in the vehicle and let staff unload. Cut sheets are filled out in the front office at drop-off, or can be submitted online in advance for beef, deer, pork, lamb and goat, and poultry. The plant states that each animal is tagged with a unique ID at intake that follows the carcass through harvest, aging, fabrication, and packaging, so the animal delivered is the meat returned. Beef is aged 14 days as standard, pork seven days, with an aging cooler capacity of up to three weeks. Additional services listed include name and logo on packaging, animal pick up, and meat delivery. Finished orders must be picked up within 10 days of completion due to limited freezer space. Minimums, fees, kill dates, and backlog are not stated in the sources. Note that FSIS reports slaughter volume under 1,000 head per year, and that the plant also reports custom-exempt slaughter for customer-owned animals.

Prairie Packing 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 website has a Retail page in its navigation, and a directory snippet describes the business as a butcher shop offering retail-cut meats. The federal record shows the plant reports retail-exempt sales. Households can also bring their own animal or deer for custom processing, receiving vacuum-sealed, labeled, individually packaged and blast-frozen product for pickup at the Comanche facility. Meat delivery is listed as an additional service. Specific retail items, prices, halves and quarters, bundles, online ordering, and shipping are not described in the sources.

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.