LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers advanced a bill Tuesday that would make it easier for customers to stock up on T-bones and hamburger fresh from the farm.

State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth said Legislative Bill 324 would make it easier for livestock producers to sell directly to customers and offer a free-market answer to the meat processing bottleneck that developed early in the pandemic.

“This is an opportunity bill, for small producers with a quality product,” he said.

Under the bill, consumers could buy a share of an animal or a herd from a farmer or rancher. That would entitle the consumer to part of the meat once the animal is slaughtered. The measure is modeled after a Wyoming “animal share” law. The ownership interest would allow the animal to be processed at a custom butcher shop, usually a small local business. It would be exempt from federal meat inspections required for meat sold at retail.

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