Buying Local Meats Resources

Buying meat directly from local farmers is a way to support the local agriculture community, but it can be confusing. Below are resources to show how the different words used to describe how animals are raised and how meat is sold from local farms – natural, grass-fed, organic, dry-aged, pasture raised, free range, humane and prime.  Also, how much meat to expect when you buy a side or quarter, where you can purchase directly from farmers and how to care for the meat until it is used.

Beef and Pork Whole Animal Buying Guide PM2076 (Iowa State University Extension)

How Much Meat to Expect from a Carcass ASC-179 (University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension

Find Your Maine Farmer – Get Real Get Maine (Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry)

Maine  Meat Processing Facilities (Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry)