BLANCHARDVILLE — Steve Hermanson’s cattle were ready to slaughter.
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April Prusia raises pastured pigs on her 50-acre in Blanchardville
Durand
Edward Mendez, left, and Jesse Evenson unload beef from a truck that does on-site slaughtering at Prem Meats in Spring Green. The mobile business, known as Natural Harvest, has grown about 10-fold since its start in 2016 and is booked through 2021.
April Prusia said customers appreciate the unique flavor of her pigs and knowing the animals are treated humanely.
The goal of the program is to teach students how to break down an animal and prepare them for entry-level work in butcher shops and meat lockers.
Sindelar
Marshawn Kufa cleans a mobile slaughtering truck operated by Prem Meats in Spring Green. The truck processes about 30 cattle and 25 pigs a week and is booked through 2021.
April Prusia raises pastured pigs on her 50-acre in Blanchardville
Photos: Slaughterhouse bottleneck chokes farm-to-table movement
Hermanson farm
Steve and Kelly Hermanson with their red and black Angus cattle on their farm in Blanchardville. A shortage of small slaughterhouses has made it harder for farmers like the Hermansons to sell their meat to local buyers.
Hermanson farm
Steve Hermanson, a fifth-generation dairy farmer from Blanchardville, now raises beef cattle. He is considering starting a cooperative processing plant to help farmers like himself sell meat to local customers instead of to large packing houses.
Prem Meats
Edward Mendez, left, and Jesse Evenson unload beef from a truck that does on-site slaughtering at Prem Meats in Spring Green. The mobile business, known as Natural Harvest, has grown about 10-fold since its start in 2016 and is booked through 2021.
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Lily Cooper butchers a cow at Prem Meats in Spring Green, Wis. Over the past decade, roughly a quarter of Wisconsin’s state-inspected meat processors have shut down or stopped slaughtering animals.
Prem Meats
Lily Cooper butchers beef at Prem Meats in Spring Green. Roughly a quarter of Wisconsin meat processors have shut down or stopped slaughtering animals in recent years.
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Terry Prem, co-owner of Prem Meats in Spring Green, said business is up nearly 50% this year thanks to grocery store meat shortages and growing interest in locally produced food.
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Marshawn Kufa unloads a bin of beef from a mobile slaughtering truck at Prem Meats in Spring Green. Cattle are slaughtered in the field and dressed in the truck before being brought to the meat locker for aging and butchering.
Prem Meats
Marshawn Kufa cleans a mobile slaughtering truck operated by Prem Meats in Spring Green. The truck processes about 30 cattle and 25 pigs a week and is booked through 2021.
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April Prusia on her farm, Dorothy’s Range Farm, where she raises pastured Gloucestershire Old Spots pigs in Blanchardville.
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April Prusia checks piglets on her farm, Dorothy’s Range Farm, where she raises pastured Gloucestershire Old Spots pigs in Blanchardville.
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April Prusia gives fresh water to her pigs on Dorothy’s Range Farm in Blanchardville.
Pig farm
April Prusia said customers appreciate the unique flavor of her pigs and knowing the animals are treated humanely.
Pig farm
April Prusia feeds black walnuts to her Gloucestershire Old Spots pigs on her farm in Blanchardville.
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Two of April Prusia's Gloucestershire Old Spots pigs follow as she walks through their pen at Dorothy’s Range Farm in Blanchardville.
