Wallowa County Chieftain
News
wallowa.com
November 2, 2016
A7
Business answers meat-processing call
USDA-certified
facility coming to
La Grande
By Katy Nesbitt
For the EO Media Group
LA GRANDE, Ore. — A
new northeastern Oregon busi-
ness is following a current trend
— bringing meat processing,
including a USDA-certified fa-
cility, closer to where livestock
is raised.
Since June, Hines Meat
Company in La Grande brought
13 employees on board and is
answering a growing demand
from local hunters and produc-
ers. By early spring they will
have a USDA facility available
for local ranches that are used
to shipping cattle hundreds of
miles.
Paige Hines, a nurse, said
she and her husband Jake, a
contractor, opened their new
business in time for the Eastern
Oregon Livestock Show early
this summer.
“We have been incredibly
busy from day one,” Hines said.
While the learning curve has
been steep and the sweat equity
extensive, she said the feedback
has been positive.
“The response from the
community has been incredi-
ble,” Hines said.
Hines said her husband
grew up in Imbler, a farming
community 12 miles outside of
La Grande. Despite the abun-
dance of livestock throughout
the region, buying local meat is
difficult.
“Even though agriculture is
the number one industry, un-
less you buy a whole or half
beef local meat isn’t accessible
to you,” Hines said. “We are
surrounded by this industry
and we wanted to make it ac-
cessible.”
In September they opened
their retail shop, offering thick
cut pork chops and steaks, ba-
con and sausages like Andou-
ille, beer bratwurst and steak
and cheese. Until they open
their USDA certified facili-
ty Hines said the meat sold
in their store is rated USDA
Katy Nesbitt/For the Capital Press
Paige and Jake Hines opened Hines Meat Company in La
Grande in June, answering a growing demand from local
hunters and producers.
Katy Nesbitt/For the Capital Press
Hines Meat Company in La Grande has 13 employees.
choice and above from West-
ern states distributors.
A concrete contractor by
trade, Jake Hines started think-
ing about different business-
es that weren’t as hard on the
body. With experience butcher-
ing game and a zest for cook-
ing, an idea was born.
“We are unsophisticated
foodies,” Hines said. “Jake’s
been a hunter and cut up his
fair share of wild game. We
cook a lot and Jake likes the
process of brining and smok-
ing,” Hines said.
When they got serious she
said they looked for a buildable
lot and started working on a
design. Financing took a year
and construction another nine
months.
“It’s definitely been an ad-
venture for us,” Hines said.
Two experienced meat cut-
ters came to work for them and
quickly they filled positions to
grind, package and run the re-
tail shop.
Jake and Paige Hines are
both involved with the busi-
ness while maintaining part-
time connections to their previ-
ous occupations.
“We’re in this phase be-
cause we keep growing and
we need to continue to have
enough people working so
we are not burning them out,”
Hines said.
During these first few
months she said they keep
looking at how to be more ef-
ficient and what positions they
need to fill.
The business took off by
word-of-mouth and with very
little advertising, underscor-
ing what the Hines already
believed – there was a healthy
market.
“That shows how much
this business was sorely need-
ed. All we had to do was show
up!” Hines said.
Since they opened Hines
said a number of ranchers
have called from Wallowa and
Union counties, eager for the
USDA facility to open.
To get certified Hines said
they are working with a consul-
tant from University of Idaho
to write a plan that is in compli-
ance with federal regulations.
“We have to have a plan in
place that identifies possible
points of contamination and
addresses how to take care of
them while incorporating a
number of different processes
in the same work place,” Hines
NRCS accepting applications
for conservation easements
Wallowa County Chieftain
Do you want to keep your
farm or ranch in agriculture
for future generations? Do
you want to protect your ag-
ricultural land from future
development? Do you want
to restore wetland habitat
on your land and protect it
for migratory birds, fish, and
other wildlife?
USDA’s Natural Resourc-
es Conservation Service in
Oregon offers easement pro-
grams to help private land-
owners, state and local gov-
ernments, Indian tribes, and
nonprofit groups protect Or-
egon’s working agricultural
lands and wetlands for future
generations.
NRCS is accepting ap-
plications for the new Agri-
cultural Conservation Ease-
ments Program (ACEP).
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Applications must be sub-
mitted by Nov. 18 to be con-
sidered in the first batch of
applications for Fiscal Year
2017 funding.
NRCS will rank appli-
cations based on identified
natural resource concerns
and priority areas throughout
the state. Easement priority
areas in Oregon include crit-
ical water bird habitat, Coho
and steelhead salmon habitat,
sage grouse habitat, grass-
lands and more.
Through the ACEP, NRCS
provides financial and tech-
nical assistance to secure
easements for both working
agricultural lands and for
wetlands. The program has
two components: one for Ag-
ricultural Land Easements
and one for Wetland Reserve
Easements.
To find a local NRCS of-
fice near you, visit the NRCS
Oregon website at www.
or.nrcs.usda.gov and view
the “Contact Us” tab for a
map of local service centers.
said.
Simply put, on any given
day, Hines said, the USDA
meat would be processed first,
then the custom work and fi-
nally wild game. She said the
three must be processed in
different spaces or at different
times and decontamination in-
corporated into the daily work-
flow.
While a lot of producers
go as far as Nampa, Idaho, for
USDA processing, Hines said
she hopes their business will be
a welcome addition to the agri-
culture market.
“This is a good way to do
it capitalize on the things we
have going on here and hope-
fully stimulate ranchers’ busi-
ness. We want to offer a good
service to the people who live
here.”
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