You can sell meat at a farmers market, but only meat that was slaughtered and processed under inspection: at a USDA-inspected plant, or at a state-inspected plant for sales inside that state, with the mark of inspection on every package. The beef you have processed custom exempt for your own freezer, or that buyers of a half or a quarter have processed for theirs, can't be sold by the cut: federal law exempts it from inspection only because it's for the owner's household. Poultry is different: farmers who raise and slaughter up to 1,000 birds a year on their own farm are exempt from federal inspection, and up to 20,000 can qualify with an "Exempted P.L. 90-492" label, both only within the state and subject to state rules. At the market, the meat stays frozen or cold, and the market or the county may want a permit for the stall. Texas, the example's state, mostly leaves sales of food at farmers markets alone, apart from temperature rules and an optional temporary food establishment permit. In the example below, a San Saba ranch takes beef to an Austin market. Below are the rules, Texas's part, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- Meat sold by the cut is slaughtered and processed under USDA or state inspection.
- Each package carries the mark of inspection, the name, net weight and safe handling instructions.
- Custom exempt beef is for the owner's household only and can't be sold by the cut.
- Selling a live animal or a share before slaughter is how custom exempt sales work.
- Poultry: up to 1,000 of your own birds exempt federally; up to 20,000 with a label; in-state only.
- Keep it frozen or cold at the market; the market or county may want a stall permit.
- Texas: temperature rules for farmers markets, and a temporary permit where the local health department issues one.
- TaroStack keeps each processing lot and what sold at each market. More below.
The rules
| Rule | What it says |
|---|---|
| Inspection | Meat sold by the cut comes from a USDA-inspected plant, or a state-inspected plant for in-state sales |
| Custom exempt | Slaughter of your own animals, or custom slaughter for an animal's owner, is exempt only for use in the owner's household, by family, nonpaying guests and employees (21 U.S.C. 623) |
| Shares | Buyers own the animal before slaughter and have it custom processed for their household |
| Poultry, 1,000 birds | Your own birds, slaughtered on your farm, not bought or sold beyond your own, not moving across state lines (9 CFR 381.10) |
| Poultry, 20,000 birds | Exempted operations within the state, labeled with your name and address and "Exempted P.L. 90-492" (9 CFR 381.10) |
| State rules | States can add licenses or require inspection where federal law exempts |
How inspection works at the plant is in USDA meat inspection requirements, and the custom side in custom exempt meat processing. This is general information, not legal advice.
Texas's part
| Rule | Texas Health and Safety Code |
|---|---|
| Farmers markets | A recurring market where most vendors are farmers or food producers selling directly to consumers; food includes livestock and poultry products (437.020) |
| Little state regulation | Chapter 437 doesn't regulate selling food to consumers at a farm or farmers market, except as these sections say (437.020) |
| A permit | The state or a local health department may issue a temporary food establishment permit to a farmers market vendor (437.0201) |
| Temperature | Rules for food sold at or transported to a farmers market; nobody may mandate how you meet them (437.0202) |
| Small counties | The permit and temperature sections don't apply in counties under 50,000 with no local health department |
The sections are in chapter 437. Federal inspection still applies to the beef itself; Texas's market rules don't replace it. What else a market vendor needs is in farmers market vendor permit.
An example: a San Saba ranch
Colorado Bend Grassfed, a made-up cattle ranch near San Saba, Texas, I use in these examples, has its steers processed at a USDA-inspected plant and sells frozen cuts at a Saturday market in Austin:
| Layer | Status |
|---|---|
| Business name, an LLC | Done, May 2023 |
| Processing | Two steers at a USDA-inspected plant, September 15, 2026 |
| Labels | The plant's: mark of inspection, cut, net weight, safe handling instructions |
| Halves and quarters | Sold as shares before slaughter, custom processed for the buyers, never at the market |
| Market permit | To check with the local health department |
| Keeping it frozen | Chest freezers on a generator, a thermometer in each |
| Pastured chickens | To check with the state: the federal 1,000-bird exemption doesn't settle Texas's rules |
| Product liability insurance | Renews April 1, 2027 |
The ranch keeps two streams apart: inspected cuts for the market and custom-exempt shares for buyers who own their animal. How to cost the cuts is in butcher yield test.
Get the checklist
Download the selling meat at a farmers market checklist. One sheet: each layer, who issues it, what it is, whether you need it, the cost, the date done and the renewal date; the status and the total cost fill in. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Two steers come back as 900 packages of 30 cuts, each with the plant's lot, and they sell a few dozen at a time over months. A checklist doesn't say how many ribeyes are left, or which lot went out on which Saturday.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each processing lot, and what sold at each market.
Each processing a lot. The cuts come back from the plant as stock with the plant's lot and date, received against the order, so every package traces to its animal's processing.
Counts by cut. Each cut is an item, counted on a phone at the freezer with no signal, so the ribeyes left are a number, not a guess.
What sold. Each market day's sales come off stock by lot, so if the plant recalls a lot, one report shows when it sold and to which customers you recorded.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Ribeyes left in the freezer | Dig and count | Stock by cut |
| Which processing a package came from | The plant's sticker | The lot, received from the plant |
| What sold on Saturday | Tally marks | Sales by cut and lot |
Counts, lots, receiving and sales are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.