Oklahoma State College’s Robert M. Kerr Meals and Agricultural Merchandise Heart just lately hosted the primary Meat Mastery Program. Arranged in collaboration with Osage Country, this hands-on program was once designed to teach members on more than a few sides of multi-species meat harvesting and value-added meat product processing.
Ravi Jadeja, affiliate professor and primary task investigator, mentioned there’s a rising call for for educated meat business pros to verify a secure and high quality meat provide within the country.
“A number of components give a contribution to the larger personnel call for in meals and agricultural merchandise processing,” Jadeja mentioned. “Meals manufacturing demanding situations come with decentralization, call for for native meats, meals protection and meals safety. To battle the important scarcity of meat business personnel, FAPC evolved a hands-on coaching to coach the beef business personnel.”
Prior to the advance of the learning, FAPC investigated a number of instructing avenues, reminiscent of classroom-style workshops and movies. However direct business engagement is important for the beef business personnel.
“The task’s objective is to leverage OSU’s current family members with two-year schools and meat business companions to organize the following era of the beef business personnel,” Jadeja mentioned. “For the following 3 years, a cohort of 60 scholars will obtain hands-on meat processing coaching in federally inspected meat processing amenities situated in OSU and the Osage Country.”
The task was once funded thru a USDA-NIFA personnel coaching grant.
“FAPC concerned about a solution-oriented option to effectively expand and execute a summer time coaching program,” Jadeja mentioned. “Creating a hands-on coaching program comes with demanding situations, such because the buying of farm animals and provides. It’s additionally important not to intervene with the day by day operations of business meat processing amenities eager about coaching members.”
The beef processing plant at FAPC is absolutely supplied for coaching functions and is student-operated right through all of the procedure. The Meat Mastery Program members labored intently with present scholar employees and assisted with day-to-day operations reminiscent of harvest, fabrication, packaging and labeling.
Roy Escoubas, FAPC director, mentioned the collaborative efforts resulted in a a hit program.
“FAPC is happy to be part of such the most important coaching that delivers technical data to the promising subsequent era of meat processors,” Escoubas mentioned. “The way forward for the business depends on increased and value-added tutorial alternatives.”
Joel Jackson, meat pilot plant supervisor, mentioned the various staff of members from around the state have been offered to quite a lot of skilled pros who shared about their non-public background and association throughout the business.
This system visitors integrated Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture, Blayne Arthur, of the Oklahoma Division of Agriculture, Meals and Forestry; Scott Yates, director of meals protection, ODAFF; Erica Hering, president, Ralph’s Packing Co.; and Stephen Spurgeon, regional supervisor, Walton’s Inc.
School individuals from OSU’s Division of Animal and Meals Sciences served as co-project investigators together with Gretchen Mafi, Morgan Pfeiffer, Ranjith Ramanathan and Patricia Rayas-Duarte. Further collaborators integrated Pawnee Country Faculty, Murray State Faculty, Connors State Faculty and the Oklahoma Texas Meat Processors Affiliation.
“We had a very good staff that was once keen to take part, and we’re having a look ahead to subsequent 12 months’s Meat Mastery Program,” Jackson mentioned. “I sit up for seeing those younger other people move out and start their profession within the meat business.”
Contributors won grant-funded housing on the OSU-Stillwater campus and a grant-sourced $2,000 stipend on the finish of this system. The execution of the summer time coaching program ready members for a a hit profession within the meat business as they won formal coaching and certificate in Danger Research and Important Keep watch over Issues, Just right Production Practices and Sanitation.
FAPC, part of OSU’s Department of Agricultural Sciences and Herbal Sources, is helping to find, expand and ship technical and industry data that can stimulate and fortify the expansion of value-added meals and agricultural merchandise and processing in Oklahoma.