Meat to Market: Professional Development for Nevada Livestock and Poultry Industry

Commodities

• Animals: bovine, poultry, rabbits, sheep, swine
• Animal Products: meat

Practices

• Animal Production: meat processing, meat processing facilities, meat product quality/safety
• Education and Training: decision support system, demonstration, display, extension, workshop
• Farm Business Management: budgets/cost and returns, farm-to-institution, farm-to-restaurant, farmers' markets/farm stands, new enterprise development, value added
• Sustainable Communities: food hubs, food sovereignty, infrastructure analysis, local and regional food systems

Meat to Market: Professional Development for Nevada Livestock and Poultry Industry is designed to strengthen the knowledge base and technical capacity of professionals who play key roles in supporting the state's meat and poultry sectors. The program will deliver structured professional development to federal and state agency personnel, county and municipal planners, and representatives from producer associations, as well as individual producers seeking to expand market opportunities. The curriculum will provide a comprehensive overview of regulatory compliance requirements that govern the production, processing, transportation, and sale of meat and poultry products. Training modules will cover zoning and land‐use considerations, permitting processes, inspection protocols, and state and federal regulations that shape market access. Additionally, the program will highlight emerging opportunities in local and regional meat supply chains, including strategies for developing value-added products that enhance economic resilience for Nevada's livestock and poultry producers. Although the content will support producers interested in entering value-added markets, the primary focus of the program is the professional workforce responsible for interpreting, implementing, and overseeing regulatory frameworks. By equipping planners, inspectors, regulatory officials, and allied organizations with a clearer understanding of meat industry requirements and pathways to market, the project aims to reduce bottlenecks, improve cross-agency coordination, and facilitate more efficient and transparent decision-making processes. Ultimately, Meat to Market will build statewide capacity to support a more robust, compliant, and economically viable livestock sector, thereby contributing to Nevada's broader goals for agricultural diversification and rural economic development.

Objective 1: Facilitate regulatory compliance of local meat products between producers and government compliance
Enhance the regulatory and technical capacity of state, local, and federal compliance personnel by providing comprehensive professional development on Nevada Revised Statutes, Nevada Administrative Code, and federal regulations governing meat processing, permitting, inspection, and market access, thereby improving cross-agency consistency and reducing barriers to sustainable livestock and poultry production.

Key Activities:

• Develop professional development curriculum with collaborators
• Implement Professional Development Workshops for agriculture and food professionals with regulatory authority over local and regional meat sales
• Evaluate increases in knowledge and adaptable regulatory compliance for local meat sales

Objective 2: Increase local and regional meat sales in Nevada
Strengthen producer readiness to participate in local and regional value-added meat markets by delivering coordinated training that clarifies regulatory expectations, supports adoption of sustainable production and processing practices, and facilitates more efficient, transparent interactions between producers and regulatory agencies.

Key Activities:

• Provide focus groups with producers selling local meat products for development of curriculum
• Provide workshop training with producer participation in training activities and in training for the producer of food safety law
• Create and evaluate baseline data to determine increase in Nevada local meat sales