The Butcher Shop at Hyde Farms, LLC

The Butcher Shop at Hyde Farms, LLC operates at 7431 Hwy 411 in Greenback, Loudon County, Tennessee, under FSIS establishment number M47711. The federal record lists meat slaughter and meat processing activities, a very small size class, and a grant of inspection dated June 22, 2023. Cattle and hogs are the species reported slaughtered under inspection, with a slaughter volume category of 1, meaning under 1,000 head per year. The plant also reports custom-exempt slaughter, in which animals owned by the customer are processed and the packages marked Not for Sale, and reports retail-exempt sales.

The Hyde Farms website describes a farming operation dating to 1978, when Mitchell Hyde began raising cattle and hogs and growing seasonal fruits and vegetables. The operation now covers more than 1,500 acres in and around Loudon, Monroe, and McMinn Counties. According to the site, the business started with a farm stand in 2012, began offering farm fresh pork and beef in 2018, completed construction of a 6,500 square foot USDA processing plant and retail store on the Greenback farm in 2021, and opened a second retail store, Hyde Farms Meat Market, in Athens, Tennessee, in 2022. The site describes two teams, a five-person Farm Team and a six-person Butcher Shop Team that handles daily butchering, processing, packing, and marketing in both Greenback and Athens.

The website presents the business primarily as a farm selling its own meat rather than as a service processor for other producers. It states that Hyde Farms raises Yorkshire/Hamshire hogs and Black Angus cattle, that the cattle are raised on grass pastures and supplemented with farm-raised feed and hay, and that hog rations are designed by a nutritionist using feed raised on the farms. The site describes the operation as the only facility in East Tennessee that handles every step of the process. Terms for outside customers bringing animals, including booking, scheduling, and fees, are not stated in the sources on file.

The federal record shows that this establishment slaughters cattle and hogs under inspection and also reports custom-exempt slaughter, in which the customer's own animals are processed and returned in packages marked Not for Sale. FSIS classifies the plant as very small, with a slaughter volume under 1,000 head per year. The website describes the operation as processing livestock raised on the Hyde family farms and does not state whether outside animals are accepted, nor does it list booking procedures, lead times, minimums, kill fees, or cut and wrap charges. Producers should contact the plant directly at (423) 667-6981 to ask about availability, as listed.

The Butcher Shop at Hyde Farms, LLC 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 states that a retail store is located at the processing plant on the farm in Greenback, Tennessee, and that a second retail store, Hyde Farms Meat Market, opened in Athens, Tennessee, in 2022. Beef listed includes ribeyes, T-bones, filets, roasts, brisket, ribs, tongue, ox tail, liver, and suet, along with ground beef, ground brisket, ground sirloin, and ground chuck ground in house daily. Pork listed includes boneless and bone-in chops, baby back and St. Louis style ribs, Boston butts, sliced ham, tenderized pork, ground pork, tenderloin, and breakfast sausage. The sources do not state store hours, prices, whether halves or quarters are sold, or whether online ordering, delivery, or shipping is available.

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.