Tonopah Processing LLC

08/31/2026

Well written explanation of why we say no when you call asking for by-product. Even if it is just for your dogs. Technically we cannot even donate anything either.

With hunting season here, this is something I explain to disappointed callers multiple times a day.
Also, no, we are not allowed to by law give it away either.

When we first started this business, I was not familiar with the CFRs and gave away fat and bones just to help the community out and get rid of them.
This triggered a USDA inspection and red taping of my freezer, (triggered by a neighbor’s complaint), and now that I know, I am not willing to ever go down that road again.

We are subject to random USDA FSIS inspectors who check our freezers for product that isn’t tracible back to the original owner.
Therefore, I do not have a freezer full of fat to distribute, even though we process these animals.

This is routinely very disappointing to people who call and honestly frustrating for us in the custom exempt industry.

Even though we are left with the byproducts, we are not allowed to do anything with them by law.
The only way to do anything with our byproducts by law to becoming a licensed renderer. Currently, I only know of one in the entire state.

If there was only one regulatory change in the custom exempt vs inspected world that would benefit us and our local consumers, I think it should be that if a customer declines keeping byproducts such as the fat, organs, and bones, they could go back to the farmer or are now in our possession and thus now are the farmers or ours to distribute or give away.
That is a policy / processing relaxation that could benefit our local industry, distribution, community, and byproduct disposal choke point.

However, because we do not have a federal inspector on site when we slaughter, we are not allowed to retain or distribute the byproducts.

Therefore, answer is NO ….
I do not sell or give away fat. 

Would I like to? Yes.
Are my hands tied by the USDA? Yes.

08/30/2026

Here is a screenshot of I guess would be a prior customer? I dont remember the name, and its hard to keep track when so many people are selling meat shares, sometimes we never know who the true end customer is. I randomly stumbled on it by just doing a facebook search of our business name. To my knowledge, this person never called us to discuss any issues, but welcome to social media, where total strangers can post negative reviews with zero backup. She claims you can see in this photo how we butchered this pig "wrong"? It is a pig carcass split in half, we havent even started in on any cuts yet. Its a half pig carcass. Anyways this is the type of stuff your local small businesses are dealing with week to week to week. If I've got RBF when you drop off or pickup your meat, my apologies.

07/30/2026

Beef share!
Open holstein heifer we are going to do beef shares out of. We are normally at $7/lb for our premium grain finished steers, this one we are going to sell @$6/lb on the hot carcass hanging weight, processing included. Whole/half shares you pick your cuts. Quarter shares will be a standard cut. Shes been on good quality alfalfa for last couple months, we were hoping she was pregnant but didnt happen. Processing will be at our shop.
Deposit required before harvest. Will hang around 750lbs. All steaks and roasts vac sealed. Ground beef in 2lb chubs and/or done up in 6ounce patties vac sealed. Pm for more info. Again price reflects that shes a dairy cow, but shes in really good condition and will eat decent.

07/28/2026

New policy we will be putting in place: INVENTORY!
We have had enough of folks(especially the meat share sellers), who pick their meat up from our freezer, take it home and un-box everything into their personal deep freezers, then a week later re-box it all and deliver to their customers in quarter/half shares and come back to claim they didnt get all the meat back
Going forward, anything picked up from us will need to be signed by the party picking up that you got what you brought us. Its going to take extra time, paperwork, and labor on our part so the cut/wrap price is going to rise with it unfortunately.

06/29/2026

New shop toy! Turned some raw beef liver into freeze dried dog treats and pulverized some into powder and stuffed into capsules. A perfect solution for customers who want the health benefits of the liver without the smell/taste.

05/31/2026

Pork shares - whole or half
$4/lb based on live weight (approx 300lbs). Basic processing included(chops,roasts,bulk sausage, bacon). Brats/linked sausages extra depending on requests.
Pickup meat frozen/boxed at our shop in Tonopah.

05/18/2026

Yep.

03/31/2026

We have beef and pork shares available for purchase. Whole or half shares only the pork @ $4/lb live weight includes all processing.
On the beef shares we have quarters, half, and whole @$7/lb hanging weight which includes processing. Vacuum sealed packaging available for long term storage. PM for additional details and to get on the schedule.