U.S. Agriculture Secretary Rollins Visits Georgia to Announce Interstate Meat Compact

By Sarah Kallis

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins visited a turf farm in Whitesburg, Ga., on Monday to announce Georgia’s participation in a new program.

Georgia is now part of a cooperative interstate meat shipping agreement that allows Georgia-inspected meat to be shipped to all 50 states with the USDA stamp of approval. 

Rollins said that four large companies dominate 85% of the national market, and the program will help smaller meat producers.

"There are about 230 of those small processors here in Georgia," she said. "They are a critical piece of the puzzle as we continue to work to rebuild that cattle herd, which again is at a 75-year low."

Ten other states are already in the compact, including Indiana, Iowa and Maine. The program is only open to states with state meat inspection programs with the same or equal standards to federal programs.