The Kansas Meat and Poultry Inspection Program inspects and registers commercial and custom slaughter facilities and meat and poultry processing facilities located in the state of Kansas. Federal law requires state inspection standards be “equal to” those of federally inspected operations and state inspected products cannot be sold outside of Kansas. USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service annually verifies that our program is "equal to" the federal meat and poultry inspection program.

Requirements differ depending on the type and extent of meat slaughtering/processing and sales of products involved. Different types of meat businesses include custom exempt, retail exempt, inspected slaughtering, inspected processing facilities, or combinations of these. Consumers utilizing a meat processing facility should be aware of the differences between the types of plants in order to make an informed decision when butchering their home-grown livestock.

Determining Inspection Requirements

Meat and/or Poultry Wholesale License

Anyone wanting to sell or distribute fully inspected meat and/or poultry products (direct to consumer or wholesale), within the state of Kansas is required to obtain a Meat and Poultry Wholesale License.

• KDA M&P Wholesaler Application

Poultry Exempt Operations

Certain types of poultry slaughter and processing operations qualify to operate without the benefit of state or federal inspection on a daily basis, and a grant of inspection is not required. The available poultry exemptions provide various tiers in which certain inspection or sanitation requirements must be met. Anyone interested in operating under one of the available poultry exemptions is encouraged to reach out to our Manhattan office at (785) 564-6776 to discuss which exemption would best fit your business plan.

• Poultry Exemption Supplement Page
• Guidance for Determining Poultry Exemption

Rabbit Exempt Operation

Anyone interested in processing rabbits under the rabbit exemption, please reach out to our Manhattan office at (785) 564-6776.

• KDA Exempt Rabbit Slaughter and Processing Guidelines

Inspected or Custom Operations

Any business wanting to operate as an inspected slaughter and/or processing facility, where the mark of inspection can be applied and the products can be wholesaled to other businesses in Kansas (grocery stores, hotels, restaurants, etc.), will need to obtain a Meat and Poultry Inspected Slaughter and/or Processing Facility license.

If the business plan is to slaughter and/or process animals, with the end product being returned back to the owner of the animal for his/her own consumption, then a custom slaughter and/or processing license is what would be required. A custom slaughter and/or processing facility has the option of applying for a retail exemption, which would allow the facility to bring in inspected carcasses or boxed meat for further processing to sell to HRI accounts or out of the facility's own retail counter.

• KDA M&P State Inspected Application
• KDA M&P Custom Retail Exemption Application

Owners of processing facilities in Kansas who would like their product to have the capacity to be shipped across state lines, would need to obtain a federal inspection license with the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS). The contact information for the USDA FSIS District Office is included below for your convenience.

• USDA FSIS Meat and Poultry Inspection Directory

USDA District Office 35 (Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri)
Springdale, Arkansas
(479) 751-8412

The Kansas Meat & Poultry Inspection Program is committed to ensuring the civil rights of all customers and employees.

For more information see the Non-Discrimination Statement.

Accessibility services are available at the Kansas Relay Center.

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