2026 Maine Meat Cutting School
March 18 – March 20
$500The University of Maine Cooperative Extension is working with the School of Food and Agriculture, the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, and the University of Kentucky to offer a three-day course in professional meat cutting/processing, with a third day set aside for any spillover and classroom learning objectives. This course includes both classroom and hands-on training.
The Maine Meat Cutting School has a limited seating capacity (24) to ensure participants have maximum hands-on learning and without overcrowded classroom space. Anyone interested in professional meat processing, especially young professionals interested in a career in meat cutting/processing. However, this is a tremendous opportunity for livestock producers interested in learning more about meat cutting and processing.
Participants will learn about: History of US meat production, consumer trends, humane handling and slaughter of livestock, meat quality, food safety, and labeling. In addition, participants will have hands-on training with swine cutting, as well as, sausage making. Students will have the opportunity to tour professional/commercial meat processing facilities, and participate in a customized animal composting school.
What is different this year? The University of Maine Dr. Matthew Highlands Pilot Plant was licensed as a custom meat processing facility. This allows us to offer this training to a larger group of participants. We have classroom space on campus to accommodate learning in a much more comfortable environment. Also, the meat cutting room is more spacious so participants will have an easier time interacting with the instructor and each other. However, the greatest benefit is that will be able to source more animals for the hands-on cutting portion of the class so participants will get to cut more animals than in previous cutting schools.
Instructors
Instructors include Dr. Gregg Rentfrow, Professor, and Meat Science Specialist at the University of Kentucky; Dr. Colt Knight, Associate Extension Professor and State Livestock Specialist for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Details for Each Day
- Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 2:00-5:00 p.m., The group will learn about the history of meat in the United States, meat Inspection, food safety and processing yields.
- Thursday, March 19, 2026, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., the group will work with Dr. Rentfrow and Dr. Knight to witness a live cutting demo on how to properly break down a pork side into primals, retail cuts, and sausage. Then participants will break down their own pig side in small teams. This includes quartering, creating primal cuts, fabricating retail cuts, making and forming sausage, packaging, and clean-up.
- Friday, March 20, 2026, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., the group will work with the Maine Composting Team for a customized hands-on course detailing how to composting animal carcasses, viscera, and leftovers from meat processing. Composting is an environmentally friendly and sustainable way to manage waste generated from meat processing. Participants of the Meat Cutting School will get instruction from the Maine Compost Team and will learn the basics of compost biology, compost feedstocks, pile management and compost troubleshooting through lectures and hands-on exercises. On the third day, participants will also visit and tour a working Inspected Meat Processing facility.
Participants will also get access to the Virtual Maine Meat Cutting School videos that cover the complete breakdown of Beef, Lamb, and Pork in high-quality 4K video so you won’t have to worry about forgetting what you learned during the in-person training.
Cost: $500
Questions? Contact Melissa Babcock at melissa.libby1@maine.edu or 207.581.2788 or 1.800.287.7170 (in Maine)
