HASTINGS - Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings and 42 colleagues in the Nebraska Legislature are urging the federal government to let small-scale processors play a larger role in connecting the public with meat products.

Sen. Halloran is the chairman of the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee. In a letter that he wrote to the state’s congressional delegation, Sen. Halloran asked the members to consider amending the Federal Meat Inspection Act to remove restrictions on custom processors to prepare meats for distribution through public and private charitable food assistance programs during meat processing emergencies. The letter included other suggestions such as shifting funding so USDA inspectors can spend more time in small inspected plants, thereby allowing those plants to ramp up their processing capacity by expanding hours of operation or adding employees.

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