How meat inspection works

Last verified: 2026-08-29, public sources only.

This page is for someone opening or converting a small slaughter or processing plant: which license, which forms, who assigns the inspector. It is Wisconsin plus the national federal path. It is not a national live plant roster.

Hunters who only need to know what the stamp means: short decoder below, then the Wisconsin plant list.

Three paths

Federal law starts from a default: slaughter and preparation of meat for commerce require inspection (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.; 9 CFR 302.1). Three paths sit on that default.

Hunter one-liner: Your own deer, or a steer, lamb, or goat you own, can be custom-cut for your freezer. Packages say NOT FOR SALE. You may not retail that meat. If you want to sell beef in Wisconsin, you need Official or USDA (or CIS for out-of-state). Donating a whole deer through DNR is a different channel than handing a pantry custom-labeled packages. Plant names, deer fees, and donation windows are on the WI plant list.

Plant-operator one-liner: Custom-exempt is a license class in Wisconsin, not “no rules.” You skip the continuous inspector and the mark of inspection, and you cannot sell the meat. You do not skip sanitation, records, marking, or periodic DATCP inspection.

Custom-exempt

21 U.S.C. 623(a); 9 CFR 303.1. Packages marked Not For Sale (9 CFR 316.16, letters at least 3/8 inch). The plant sells a service, not meat. The meat cannot be sold. Game animals may be custom-prepared for the owner.

FSIS how-to: guideline 2018-0007 (custom-exempt vs inspected). There is no FSIS registration or approval process to operate under the custom exemption. Custom plants are absent from the MPI Directory. Do not look a custom locker up there.

In Wisconsin, a fixed-location custom plant still needs a DATCP Custom license unless an ATCP 55.03(2) exemption applies. “FSIS doesn’t register you” does not mean “DATCP doesn’t license you.” Wisconsin application, published fees, and what a custom operator still must do are in the operator sidebar on the WI plant list.

State MPI (“at least equal to”)

21 U.S.C. 661; 9 CFR 321. In-state sale. Interstate only through CIS. Wisconsin has an MPI program and implements it through ch. ATCP 55 and Wis. Stat. § 97.42.

Pennsylvania and New York do not. They are designated states. FSIS inspects in-state commerce there too.

Which states have MPI. FSIS publishes the live list. It is not 9 CFR text. Official URL: States with and without inspection programs. Direct fetch of that page timed out on 2026-08-29 (not a 404). A search-index extract of that official URL the same day listed 30 states currently operating MPI programs, including Wisconsin. DATCP’s Meat and Poultry Businesses page and UW Extension Direct Marketing Meat: Getting Started (reviewed 2026-01-28) still say Wisconsin is one of 27 states with a state meat inspection program. The FSIS CIS program page (last updated Aug 19, 2026) says CIS is limited to plants in the 29 states with an MPI program. Use the FSIS list URL as the live roster. These three counts are not reconciled here.

USDA grant of inspection

Interstate. Continuous inspector during operations requiring inspection. Listed in the Meat, Poultry and Egg Product Inspection (MPI) Directory (weekly; current files labeled Aug 24, 2026). Federal only. Custom-exempt plants are not in it.

Primary how-to: Apply for Grant of Inspection (page last updated Feb 25, 2026).

CIS (Cooperative Interstate Shipment)

21 U.S.C. 683; 9 CFR part 332. A state-inspected plant is selected to participate. Apply through the state MPI agency, not as a USDA grant of inspection. On average no more than 25 employees. Product that complies bears an official federal mark plus an SE / state suffix and may ship interstate.

Wisconsin’s CIS agreement was signed January 14, 2013. DATCP overview as of 08/19/2025: 36 Wisconsin CIS plants. FSIS publishes a Wisconsin CIS download; that spreadsheet was not opened for this draft, so 36 is the DATCP figure, not a 2026-08-29 FSIS headcount.

Export: FSIS CIS page (updated Aug 19, 2026) says CIS product may have the opportunity to export if the State has a supplemental export agreement, and “No states currently have a supplemental agreement for exporting product.” Do not treat a Wisconsin CIS plant as export-eligible on that basis.

Program page: Cooperative Interstate Shipment Program. Establishment lists (updated Aug 24, 2026): CIS establishments.

Sheep, goats, and lamb

Not a fourth path. Sheep and goats are amenable FMIA livestock. Lamb is sheep meat, not a separate species or license class.

21 U.S.C. 601(w) (amenable species) and 21 U.S.C. 601(j) (meat food product: cattle, sheep, swine, or goats). 9 CFR 301.2: “Livestock. Cattle, sheep, swine, goat…” The custom exemption names the same four (21 U.S.C. 623(a)). Wisconsin ATCP 55.02(9) includes sheep and goats as domesticated food animals.

They use the same GOI / Wisconsin Official / custom-exempt paths as cattle. There is no DATCP small-ruminant license in ATCP 55.03.

Goat-specific, one paragraph. 9 CFR 309.14: “Goats which have reacted to a test for brucellosis shall not be slaughtered in an official establishment.” The cattle non-ambulatory condemnation in 9 CFR 309.3(e) does not by its terms apply to sheep or goats. Wisconsin ATCP 55.07(8) bans slaughter of food animals that cannot stand or walk, then treats food animals other than cattle differently (licensed establishment, humane facilities, veterinarian ante- and post-mortem). A downer sheep or goat is not under the cattle-absolute rule.

Postmortem of sheep and goats is still 9 CFR 310.1(a) (all livestock at the time of slaughter). FSIS Directive 6100.2 Chapter VI is the sheep-and-goat postmortem procedure. ATCP 55.06(2): farm-raised deer postmortem is the same as for sheep.

Humane methods: 9 CFR 313.15 (captive bolt), 313.16 (gunshot), and 313.30 (electric current) name sheep and goats. 9 CFR 313.5 carbon dioxide is designated for “sheep, calves and swine.” Goats are not in that opening sentence. This page does not invent a goat CO2 rule.

Who takes lamb or goat in Wisconsin, and who has a named current certifier, is on the Wisconsin plant list.

How to get a USDA grant of inspection

This is the federal grant of inspection (GOI) under 9 CFR part 304. Primary how-to: Apply for Grant of Inspection (updated Feb 25, 2026). Narrative guideline: FSIS-GD-2025-0005, Applying for USDA FSIS Inspection, September 2025. Internal processing: FSIS Directive 5220.1.

If you only need custom Not For Sale service, do not start on the GOI page. Use guideline 2018-0007.

No published timeline for how long a grant of inspection takes. No published application fee. Do not invent either. The only clock in the regulation is the conditional grant.

1. Decide inspection is required. 9 CFR 302.1: inspection is required at establishments that slaughter livestock for transportation or sale as articles of commerce, or prepare products of livestock for such sale, except as provided in 9 CFR 303.1. Contact the FSIS District Office / Grant Curator and the Small Plant Help Desk before filing if unsure.

2. File FSIS Form 5200-2, Application for Federal Inspection, with the Grant Curator at the FSIS District Office for the plant’s location (9 CFR 304.1; Form 5200-2 PDF). Also request/submit FSIS Form 5200-15, Hours of Operations Request/Approval.

3. Background inquiry. The Grant Curator forwards the application for a compliance background inquiry of the business and “responsibly connected” persons listed on the form.

4. Establishment number reserved. If processing continues, the Grant Curator reserves an establishment number (so the plant can prepare labels) and connects the applicant to a Frontline Supervisor. The number is reserved one year for new applicants if they stay in process.

5. Written programs before inspection is granted (9 CFR 304.3): Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (9 CFR part 416); recall procedures (9 CFR part 418); hazard analysis and a validated HACCP plan (9 CFR part 417). A conditional grant of inspection shall be issued for a period not to exceed 90 days, during which the establishment must validate its HACCP plan (9 CFR 304.3(b)).

6. Facilities. 9 CFR 304.2 / part 416. The Administrator may refuse inspection if the establishment does not meet parts 305, 307, and 416.1–416.6. No separate published small-plant square-footage schedule was found as a binding rule.

7. Labels. Inspection may be refused if the applicant has not received approval of labeling and containers (parts 316 and 317). Labels need the reserved establishment number.

8. Frontline Supervisor facility review. FSIS Form 5200-4 is an internal FLS recommendation form. FSIS will not schedule that review until supporting documentation is substantially complete.

9. Inspector assigned; hours approved. Operations requiring inspection only under supervision of a Program employee (9 CFR 307.4(a)). Work schedule submitted for approval.

10. Slaughter plants also: humane handling/slaughter consistent with 9 CFR part 313 and 7 U.S.C. 1901–1906 / 21 U.S.C. 603(b).

Basic workweek inspection is without charge up to 8 consecutive hours per shift (21 U.S.C. 695; 9 CFR 307.4(c)). Overtime and holiday inspection are reimbursed by the establishment. Dollar rates are not copied here; FSIS kept 2025 reimbursement rates for 2026 while it reviews the formula. A separate FY 2026 fee reduction for small and very small official establishments is listed under current programs.

Help. Small Plant Help Desk (updated Apr 06, 2026): 1-877-FSIS-HELP (1-877-374-7435); InfoSource@usda.gov. Small and very small plant guidance (updated Aug 08, 2025).

Hunters and homesteaders do not apply for this. They use a plant that already has it if the meat must legally cross a state line.

Current USDA programs (as of 2026-08-29)

Status labels are as of this pull. Closed grants are closed. A possible FY 2027 round is not an open window. Do not treat Grants.gov as a live application path for the closed programs below.

Open

Closed

Bison

Bison is not an amenable FMIA species. Voluntary inspection under the Agricultural Marketing Act is not a cattle grant of inspection. Businesses pay an hourly rate. The mark is a triangle-shaped “U.S. Inspected and Passed” seal. Custom-exempt bison work is still Not For Sale if done as custom.

Primary: Bison From Farm to Table (updated Oct 24, 2024). Wisconsin ATCP 55.06 treats bison like cattle for state postmortem method. That is a WI overlay, not a rewrite of federal amenability.

How inspection actually works (day-of)

This is not food-safety advice. It is what the statutes and codes say happens on a slaughter day.

Antemortem

21 U.S.C. 603; 9 CFR 309.1: live animal, on the day of and before slaughter, on the establishment premises.

Wisconsin: no sale of meat from a food animal unless DATCP or USDA conducted slaughter inspection including ante mortem of the live animal and post mortem of the carcass (ATCP 55.04(1)(a)). Custom is not a sale.

Federal non-ambulatory disabled cattle offered for slaughter must be condemned (9 CFR 309.3(e)).

Postmortem

21 U.S.C. 604; 9 CFR 310.1: carcass at the time of slaughter. Found not adulterated: marked Inspected and Passed. Adulterated: marked Inspected and Condemned and destroyed for food purposes in the presence of an inspector.

Continuous inspection

The FMIA does not define the marketing phrase “continuous inspection.” The operative rules are:

• 9 CFR 307.4(a): “No operations requiring inspection shall be conducted except under the supervision of a Program employee.”
• ATCP 55.04(9): ante-mortem and post-mortem “shall be conducted continuously throughout slaughter” with one lunch period of between 30 and 45 minutes beginning between four and five hours after slaughter operations begin.

You do not kill or dress for sale when the inspector is at lunch, on another assignment, or not yet there.

Hunter translation: “Inspected” means an inspector was present for that animal’s slaughter day, not that DATCP toured the building last quarter.

Custom-exempt frequency (Wisconsin)

ATCP 55.04(2)(a): inspection “shall be at least once every three months during which custom processing activities or transactions occur.” DATCP overview as of 08/19/2025: custom-exempt establishments “are only subject to periodic, risk-based inspection since this meat is not eligible for retail or wholesale transactions.”

Federal custom verification is a different sentence. The FSIS livestock-exemption guideline, as republished, says FSIS verifies annually. On a Wisconsin page, the floor is the three-month ATCP rule. Do not replace it with “annual.”

Humane slaughter

7 U.S.C. 1902; 21 U.S.C. 603(b); 9 CFR part 313; ATCP 55.07(11). Livestock rendered insensible to pain before being shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut — except ritual slaughter under 7 U.S.C. 1902(b).

Ritual slaughter is not a kosher or halal certificate

7 U.S.C. 1902(b): slaughter “in accordance with the ritual requirements of the Jewish faith or any other religious faith that prescribes a method of slaughter whereby the animal suffers loss of consciousness by anemia of the brain caused by the simultaneous and instantaneous severance of the carotid arteries with a sharp instrument.” 7 U.S.C. 1906 exempts that method from the terms of the humane-methods chapter. Pub. L. 95-445 note under 21 U.S.C. 603. Wisconsin: ATCP 55.07(11)(a)5 and (g); Wis. Stat. § 95.80(1)(a)2.

This is the humane-methods exception. It is not a kosher or halal certificate. FSIS still inspects. A shochet or a Muslim slaughterer on the floor is not OU, OK, Kof-K, Star-K, IFANCA, or HMS.

FSIS Meat and Poultry Labeling Terms (updated Jul 02, 2024): Halal / Zabiah Halal must be handled according to Islamic law and under Islamic authority. “Kosher” may be used only on products prepared under rabbinical supervision. FSIS does not certify either. Constituent Update, June 5, 2020: a “certified” claim needs a current certificate from the religious authority, and the certifier named on the label.

Do not call a plant kosher or halal unless a named certifier is current on a public listing. Wisconsin names are on the Wisconsin plant list.

Same building: custom and for-sale

ATCP 55.08(3):

Except as provided in par. (b), a meat establishment operator may not engage in custom slaughter or other processing operations at a meat establishment while the operator is simultaneously (1) slaughtering food animals for sale, or (2) processing the meat of food animals for sale.

Exceptions in 55.08(3)(b): a department-inspected custom slaughter (or processing meat from one); or simultaneous operations in separate rooms or areas, if approved by the department, adequately separated and controlled to prevent cross-contamination or commingling.

Federal: 9 CFR 303.1(a)(2) — keep for-sale product separate; thoroughly clean and sanitize facilities and equipment used for custom before using them for product for sale.

Wild game vs food animals is a separate time rule: ATCP 55.03(11)(b)4 — custom-process wild game only at times when not slaughtering or processing food animals, then clean and sanitize.

An Official plant can still cut your deer as custom. That does not make the sausage in their retail case “your deer,” and it does not make your packages legal to sell.

Marks

If the inspector is absent

Wisconsin: notify DATCP immediately. DATCP “shall provide an inspector as soon as possible, so that slaughter may proceed in a timely manner” (ATCP 55.04(7)).

Federal: stop. No operations requiring inspection except under supervision of a Program employee (9 CFR 307.4(a)).

Poultry

Poultry is a different statute: Poultry Products Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.; rules in 9 CFR part 381. Custom poultry is 9 CFR 381.10(a)(4), not 9 CFR 303.1. This is not a poultry site.

Wisconsin’s 1,000-bird producer exemption (ATCP 55.03(2)(d)): ≤1,000 birds, produced on that person’s premises, slaughtered/processed/sold at those premises (or CSA, or processed at a licensed meat establishment). Label name/address plus NOT INSPECTED. Wisconsin is not a copy-paste of the federal 1,000-bird commerce limit.

Federal 20,000-bird producer/grower rules exist in 9 CFR 381.10. DATCP has called the federal poultry exemptions “complex.” This page does not walk through a 20,000-bird how-to.

A DATCP page snippet said a red meat plant can simultaneously do custom-exempt, retail-exempt, and state or federally inspected work, and that a poultry plant cannot. That is DATCP overview language from a snippet. Confirm against the current DATCP poultry FAQ before treating it as a firm callout.

Official links

Statutes and rules

• 21 U.S.C. 601 — amenable species / meat food product
• 7 U.S.C. 1906 — ritual slaughter exemption
• 9 CFR 301.2 — livestock defined
• 9 CFR 309.14 — brucellosis-reactor goats
• 21 U.S.C. 623 — custom exemption
• 21 U.S.C. 603 — antemortem / humane
• 21 U.S.C. 604 — postmortem
• 21 U.S.C. 661 — “at least equal to” / designation
• 21 U.S.C. 683 — CIS
• 7 U.S.C. 1902 — humane methods
• 9 CFR 302.1 — who needs inspection
• 9 CFR 303.1 — custom exemption
• 9 CFR part 304 — grant of inspection
• 9 CFR 307.4 — schedule of operations
• 9 CFR part 309 — antemortem
• 9 CFR 310.1 — postmortem
• 9 CFR part 313 — humane slaughter
• 9 CFR 316.16 — Not for Sale
• 9 CFR part 321 — state cooperation
• 9 CFR part 332 — CIS selected establishments
• 9 CFR 381.10 — poultry exemptions
• 9 CFR 416 — SSOP / sanitation
• 9 CFR 417 — HACCP
• 9 CFR 418 — recall procedures
• ATCP 55 — Wisconsin meat and poultry products

FSIS how-to

• Apply for Grant of Inspection — primary GOI how-to (updated Feb 25, 2026)
• Guideline 2018-0007 — custom-exempt vs inspected
• Small Plant Help Desk (updated Apr 06, 2026)
• Small and very small plant guidance (updated Aug 08, 2025)
• Form 5200-2
• Directive 5220.1 — Grant of Inspection Management
• MPI Directory — federal only, weekly; custom-exempt plants are absent (files Aug 24, 2026)
• States with and without MPI — live roster (fetch timed out 2026-08-29)
• CIS program (updated Aug 19, 2026)
• Meat and Poultry Labeling Terms — Halal / Kosher (updated Jul 02, 2024)
• Constituent Update, June 5, 2020 — “certified” kosher/halal labels
• Directive 6100.2 — sheep and goat postmortem (Ch. VI)
• Bison From Farm to Table (updated Oct 24, 2024)

Programs (dated 2026-08-29)

• SPUR — OPEN through Sept 11, 2026 (close date from FSIS Constituent Updates, not the FSA hub)
• OT/holiday fee reduction — OPEN while $20 million lasts
• Product of USA — in force since Jan 1, 2026 (date from USDA PR Mar 24, 2026)
• MPPEP Phase 4 — CLOSED Aug 7, 2026
• VAPG — CLOSED Apr 22, 2026
• FMPP — CLOSED June 5, 2026
• LFPP — CLOSED June 5, 2026

Wisconsin plant names, DATCP Official vs Custom, deer fees, and donation windows: the WI plant list.

This is not legal advice, not an inspection manual, and not a complete census. eCFR title 9 displayed up to date as of 8/27/2026 (last amended 7/20/2026). MPI Directory files Aug 24, 2026. Programs pull 2026-08-29.