When the new Farm Bill came out of the House of Representatives at the end of April, a KY Representative was able to add something that would help farmers sell locally raised meat directly to consumers. The Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act (PRIME Act) isn’t anything new, as it was first introduced in 2015. The PRIME Act was intended to allow custom slaughterhouses to process farmers meat, which they can sell directly to consumers and local restaurants (within state lines), bypassing the need for a USDA inspector to be present on-site.
Expand for links to sponsors and bill language here
The PRIME Act is bipartisan legislation. Reps. Massie (R-KY) and Pingree (D-ME) introduced the legislation on July 23, 2025. Companion legislation, S.2409, has been introduced in the United States Senate by Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Rand Paul (R-KY). Legislative text for HR 4700, the PRIME Act, is available at this link. A current list of cosponsors is available at this link.
After it did not pass in 2015, it was proposed again during the COVID pandemic. Because COVID-19 shut down many large, USDA-approved meatpacking plants, the PRIME Act would have helped small farmers and reduced meat shortages. While the PRIME Act specifically was not included, COVID-19 relief legislation did contain other agricultural funding, including loans for small-sized food processors and meat packers.
Once those COVID-19 relief packages were ended by the end of 2022, the 2023 Farm Bill seemed like the best opportunity to hopefully help improve and strengthen the local food system. Now, after almost 3 years of postponing the Farm Bill the House of Representatives finally passed their version on April 30, 2026. Included in the House version is a pilot program for the PRIME Act, put forth by KY Representative Thomas Massie.
“I am excited to announce that a pilot program for the PRIME Act is included in this year’s Farm Bill,” said Rep. Thomas Massie. “This means consumers can soon expect increased access to locally raised and processed beef, pork, and lamb sold directly from farmers, and farmers will no longer be burdened by the hefty and costly U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) constraints that force them to drive hundreds of miles with their animals to the few and sparse USDA facilities, as currently required.”
Requirements for state participation and facility operation include:
- State Requirements
- Approval: States must apply to participate in the pilot program
- Cap On Facilities: State programs are limited to approving 5 custom-exempt operations to participate
- Intrastate Limitation: All distribution and sales must occur entirely within the state where the facility is located
- Reporting: Each year the state department of agriculture operating a pilot program must submit to the Secretary a report detailing the number and location of custom-exempt facilities selling meat products and the outcomes of each one, any instances in which a meat product was subject to an emergency action, and aggregated data on the volume of meat being processed under the pilot program
- Operating Requirements
- Compliance: All facilities must comply with all applicable state and local laws, the Humane Methods Slaughter Act of 1958, and section 23(d) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act. Participating facilities be subject to onsite inspection by the Secretary to ensure compliance as well as onsite inspection annually by the local authority responsible for restaurant inspections or the State department of agriculture
- Sanitation and Recordkeeping: Participating facilities must follow federal regulations regarding sanitation standards, recordkeeping, and the handling of the specified risk materials.
- Labeling Requirements
- The name and address of the processing facility
- The name and address of the animal’s owner
- The location where the animals were raised
- The date of slaughter and the duration the owner raised the animal
- Explicit notice that the meat was not subject to federal inspection
- A warning that the product shall not be resold
Also, a thing of note is that under the PRIME Act, local inspectors, rather than USDA inspectors, could inspect meat production facilities and any regulations governing meat distribution could be adjusted to allow more convenient access for consumers. The PRIME Act would give individual states the freedom to permit intrastate distribution of locally grown and slaughtered meat directly to consumers.
