STILLWATER, OKLA. — Oklahoma State University announced on July 6 that it hosted the first Meat Mastery Program at the Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center (FAPC) in collaboration with the Osage Nation.

The event provided training to educate attendees on various aspects of value-added meat processing and harvesting.

Ravi Jadeja, associate professor and principal project investigator, said in the details from Oklahoma State that there is a growing demand for the next generation of meat industry professionals.

“Several factors contribute to the increased workforce demand in food and agricultural products processing,” Jadeja said. “Food production challenges include decentralization, demand for local meats, food safety and food security. To combat the critical shortage of meat industry workforce, FAPC developed a hands-on training to train the meat industry workforce.”

Jadeja added that the project will work with two-year colleges and meat industry partners to help prepare the next workforce. During the next three years, 60 students will be trained in federally inspected meat processing facilities in OSU and the Osage Nation.

The program also collaborated with the Oklahoma Texas Meat Processors Association, Pawnee Nation College, Murray State College and Connors State College.

A workforce training grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) funded the project.

“FAPC focused on a solution-oriented approach to successfully develop and execute a summer training program,” Jadeja said. “Developing a hands-on training program comes with challenges, such as the purchasing of livestock and supplies. It’s also critical to not interfere with the day-to-day operations of commercial meat processing facilities involved in training participants.”

The Meat Mastery Program participants worked with current OSU student workers at the FAPC meat processing plant and assisted with daily operations like harvest, fabrication, packaging and labeling.

During the program, participants received grant-funded housing at the Stillwater campus and a grant-sourced stipend of $2,000. They also received formal Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and Sanitation training.

Visitors of the program included Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture, Blayne Arthur, of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF), Scott Yates, director of food safety at ODAFF, Erica Hering, president, Ralph’s Packing Co., and Stephen Spurgeon, regional manager, Walton’s Inc.

Faculty members from OSU’s Department of Animal and Food Sciences served as co-project investigators including Gretchen Mafi, Morgan Pfeiffer, Ranjith Ramanathan and Patricia Rayas-Duarte.