Bright Oak Meats, Inc.

Bright Oak Meats, Inc., doing business as Mohawk Valley Meats, operates a small USDA-inspected slaughter and processing plant at 91167 Marcola Road in Springfield, Lane County, Oregon. FSIS lists the establishment under numbers M9252, P9252 and V9252, with activities covering meat slaughter, meat processing and voluntary slaughter and processing of meat. The grant of inspection date on file is November 9, 2021. Species slaughtered under inspection as reported to FSIS include cattle, hogs, sheep and lamb, bison, and elk or deer. The plant also reports custom-exempt slaughter, in which animals owned by the customer are processed and packages are marked Not for Sale, and reports retail-exempt sales. FSIS places its slaughter volume in category 3.0.

The website describes Mohawk Valley Meats as the processing division for Bright Oak Meats: the Marcola Road plant harvests animals, breaks carcasses into primals, and delivers meat to Bright Oak Meats for further processing. Beyond serving that retail operation, the site states Mohawk offers butcher service to farmers from Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada, serving small farmers who sell halves of beef to individuals and processing hundreds of head of lamb for a grocery chain in Portland and Seattle. Species listed on the site are beef, pork, lamb, buffalo, emu and elk. The site says products processed there appear in farmers markets, local stores and home freezers across the Northwest.

The retail side, Bright Oak Meats, is at 660 Main Street in Springfield and is described as family owned since 1978, run by three generations with a fourth occasionally present. The site says Dave and Darla Harris, owners of Bright Oak since 1978, purchased Mohawk in 1995 after markets shifted from quarter and half carcasses toward boxed meat, and that Bright Oak wanted to continue with dry-aged carcasses. The federal record lists the plant phone as (541) 726-4411, while the website lists (541) 746-4411 for Mohawk Valley Meats and (541) 726-6913 for the Main Street market.

The website states that Mohawk Valley Meats offers butcher service to farmers in Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada, including small farmers selling halves of beef to individuals and larger lamb work for a Portland and Seattle grocery chain. Listed pricing includes beef slaughter at $100 per head up to 600 pounds hot carcass weight and $0.12 per pound over that; pork slaughter at $80 per head up to 250 pounds HCW and $0.12 per pound over; and lamb or goat slaughter at $30 per head plus a $3 per head disposal fee. Processing runs $0.80 per pound paper wrapped or $1.00 per pound vacuum sealed on the hanging weight of the entire carcass, with the same rates for offal, plus $1.50 per pound for curing and smoking bacon or ham. Lamb and goat carcasses are $0.90 per pound paper wrapped with a $55 minimum or $1.00 per pound vacuum sealed with a $65 minimum. Bulk sausage is $0.40 per pound. The site notes prices change with the market and asks customers to call for current pricing. Cutting instructions are submitted by downloading a PDF or Excel form and emailing it to officemohawk@gmail.com. The site states that the plant no longer custom cuts half hogs or quarter beef shares. Wild game further processing has separate minimums by grind type, with $8.00 minimums on grind only orders and $12.00 on grind and wrap, and the site says peppersticks and summer sausage trim is accepted only in slow periods, generally February through April, with a 10 to 16 week wait. Booking procedures and lead times for slaughter are not stated. Plant hours listed for Mohawk Valley Meats are Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, closed Saturday and Sunday.

Bright Oak Meats, Inc. 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.

Household buyers are directed to the Bright Oak Meats retail market at 660 Main Street in Springfield, phone (541) 726-6913, described on the site as a meat market open during normal business hours. The site lists local beef, exotic meats, jerky in 16 flavors, pet food and green tripe, and offers custom cutting of items not in the case, ready at a chosen pickup time. The site says small farmers use the plant to sell halves of beef to individuals, though the plant states it no longer custom cuts quarter beef shares or half hogs. A shop page exists on the website but lists no products or online checkout in the text on file, and the site asks customers to call for current prices. Delivery and shipping are not mentioned.

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.