The first U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-inspected, custom red meat processor in Central Texas in four decades recently opened in Evant. I O Ranch Processing, LLC aims to serve growers and direct marketers who sell meat from the animals they raise, as well as serve the general public.

I O Ranch Processing, LLC hosted a ribbon-current ceremony April 9.

The facility first opened its doors Feb. 10, processing beef, lamb, goats and hogs.

“There’s been a shortage of inspected processing for people to get their animals processed to where it’s inspected before it can be sold. So, basically, to sell a product to a restaurant, farmers market or sell it online, it needs to be inspected,” I O Ranch Processing, LLC Managing Partner Jeff Ruyle told the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Radio Network following the ribbon cutting.

Ruyle, a Lampasas County Farm Bureau member, has been in the grass-fed lamb business for the last 10 years, selling lamb grown on his family’s Lampasas County ranch to Austin farm-to-table restaurants and directly to customers at Austin farmers markets.

“It was a three-year process to get to where we are now. We looked at some other small plants around the country and looked at a lot of ideas from Dr. Temple Grandin on humane handling. The biggest thing is I’ve been a customer of these processing plants the last 10 years, so we had a good feel for what was needed for this plant, being on the customer side,” Ruyle said.

The 15,000-square-foot facility will create over 20 jobs in Evant, a community of about 400 people. Results from a USDA Rural Development feasibility study projected the business could have a $5 million annual economic benefit to the community.

“The USDA inspection is very important for us as we try to market our animals,” said Mickey Edwards, TFB District 8 state director and rancher in Lampasas County, at the ribbon cutting. “The humane treatment of animals is very important to the owners of this facility, and I think USDA is very trusted by the consumer.”

To sell meat, the animals must be processed at a Texas-inspected plant that is authorized to sell within the state or a USDA-inspected plant that is authorized to sell anywhere in the U.S. or internationally. Unlike custom-exempt plants, a fully-inspected plant has inspectors on site during operations, where animals are inspected live upon arrival and then throughout the process. USDA has its own office in the I O Ranch Processing, LLC, facility.

“A lot of people figured out what I figured out 10 years ago—you make a lot more money selling meat, selling animals in little packages, than you do a live animal. So, there’s this growing supply and growing demand. The problem is there hadn’t been enough inspected processing to let those two things meet,” Ruyle said.

For more information on the Evant processing facility, visit https://www.ioranchmeats.com.