Dean & Peeler Meatworks

Dean & Peeler Meatworks operates under USDA FSIS establishment numbers M51283 and V51283 at 201 Menchaca in Poth, Wilson County, Texas. The federal record lists meat slaughter, meat processing, voluntary slaughter and processing, and export certification, with a grant of inspection dated March 12, 2022. FSIS classifies the plant as very small and records cattle as the species slaughtered under inspection, with a slaughter volume category of under 1,000 head per year. The plant also reports custom-exempt slaughter, in which animals owned by the customer are processed and packaged marked Not for Sale, and reports both halal and kosher slaughter.

The company website describes Meatworks as part of Dean & Peeler Meats, a vertically integrated South Texas operation formed in 2014 when two ranching families combined cattle production and feeding experience. The site states that Meatworks is among the few federally inspected custom processing facilities between Dallas and Corpus Christi, that it is the exclusive processor of the Dean & Peeler Premium Angus Beef brand, and that it provides custom processing for other Texas beef producers. Related businesses named on the site include Supreme Meat Purveyors, a San Antonio further processing operation described as operating since 1990, and three family-owned retail meat markets in Victoria, La Vernia, and Poth.

According to the website, cattle for the Dean & Peeler brand are raised from birth at a family ranch in Floresville, Texas, harvested at the Poth plant, and further processed in San Antonio. The site describes camera-grading technology used to evaluate marbling on each carcass and vacuum-sealed packages labeled with the cut and USDA grade. Hours, custom processing fees, booking lead times, and scheduling details are not stated in the sources on file.

The website states that Meatworks provides custom processing for many Texas beef producers in addition to the Dean & Peeler brand, and that butchers work with each customer to develop a specific, detailed cutting order before processing. Carcasses are evaluated for marbling with camera-grading technology, and packages are vacuum-sealed with a label specifying the cut and USDA grade. FSIS records cattle as the species slaughtered under inspection, custom-exempt slaughter is reported, and the plant is in the smallest slaughter volume category, under 1,000 head per year. Booking procedures, lead times, minimums, kill days, and fees are not stated in the sources on file.

Dean & Peeler Meatworks 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 lists three family-owned Dean & Peeler Meat Markets described as the exclusive retailers of Dean & Peeler Premium Angus Beef: Victoria at 4806 N. John Stockbauer Dr., Suite 100, (361) 579-3151; La Vernia at 4133 County Road 319, (830) 217-4612; and Poth at 201 W. Menchaca, (830) 484-0012. The site says beef comes from cattle raised at the family ranch in Floresville, harvested at the Poth plant, and further processed in San Antonio into steaks, marinated fajitas, ground beef, and other value-added proteins. Halves and quarters, bundles, online ordering, shipping, and delivery are not described in the sources on file.

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.