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The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) announces funding for Meat and Produce Agriculture Development Grants (Meat and Produce ADG). This opportunity is part of a onetime appropriation, in part developed by the Governor’s Commission on the Future of Agriculture, focused on high need agricultural sectors.

This program supports produce and meat producers and processors in implementing projects that improve their climate resilience, operational efficiency and capacity growth, and/or worker and food safety and product quality.

For use beginning 1/1/2024
Custom Exempt Livestock slaughter conducted with a mobile unit on-farm must be maintained and operated in accordance with 9CFR §§ 416.1 through 416.6 (except for water reuse). Given that the regulations were written for brick and mortar establishments, this document is meant to give information on how these may be applied to a custom slaughter mobile unit.

For use beginning 8/1/2023
This matrix is used as a decision making tool in determining proposed administrative penalties.

For use beginning 10/1/2021
This notice provides instructions to inspection program personnel (IPP) on how to verify that edible blood is collected and handled in a manner to be fit for use in human food. This notice includes new information about a related proposed rule and clarifies that blood may not be defibrinated by hand.

For use beginning 10/01/2019
CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) of captive and wild cervid animals in the United States and Canada. State and federal regulations currently require CWD testing of all cervid mortalities that are 12 months or older, except for fallow deer. This document outlines the policy of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) pertaining to CWD testing of captive cervids at slaughter in Vermont.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers cervid animals that test positive for CWD at post-mortem to be adulterated and not fit for human food under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). Therefore, when a cervid animal is tested for CWD and slaughtered under voluntary inspection services, VAAFM cannot determine the wholesomeness of the carcass and parts without the CWD test results.

IPP are to retain, and not to apply or allow the establishment to apply the mark of inspection to carcasses of cervid animals, or parts thereof, until after “not detected” test results are received. IPP are to allow establishments to hold or further process (e.g., bone) these carcasses under inspection pending test results provided that the affected carcass or parts remain retained. IPP are to observe how the establishment addresses cross contamination during further processing of these products and ensure the carcass and parts are handled in a sanitary manner.

For use beginning 8/1/2019
Expires when superseded
This notice announces two changes that FSIS has made in the regulations in 9 CFR. Per 6 V.S.A 3305(8), the federal meat inspection regulations and federal poultry inspection regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Title 9, Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 3, 9 CFR §§ 300.1 et seq., together with any amendments, supplements, or revisions thereto, are adopted as part of this chapter.