Since April 2020, the Producer Partnership has processed and donated 112,000 pounds of ground meat to communities and non-profits across Montana.
“We get a lot of those animals that aren’t good for the market,” Matt Pierson, president and founder of the Producer Partnership said. “We’re able to take that and put that back into a usable product, back into our state, and five the producer a tax benefit on that animal that otherwise we would have gotten nothing for.”
The full process of donating animals can be found on the Producer Partnerships website.
The Producer Partnership was the first federally inspected, nonprofit meat processing plant in the country. It all started as an idea to help the town of Livingston during the pandemic.
Today the Partnership works with local and statewide nonprofits, such as the Montana Food Bank Network.
Brent Weisgram, Vice President and COO of the Montana Food Bank Network noted that during the pandemic many major food process plants were forced to shut down temporarily.
“To be able to take a home-grown resource—local beef—and to keep it local and get it in the hands of our friends and neighbors that are struggling, there’s probably no better feeling in the world,” said Weisgram.
The future of the partnership has many possibilities, including expansion, and student inclusion. Those that are interested in donating time, and money, or that wish to apply to work at the partnership can find contact information and more details on the Producer Partnership website.
