Coming Soon: Regional Agriculture Center (RAC)

About the Southern Maryland Regional Agriculture Center (RAC) and Meat Processing Facility

The RAC’s Mission is to support local producers working with local processors to sell to local consumers.

RAC = Instruction, Incubation, Aggregation, Entrepreneurship, Market Access

The Southern Maryland RAC is a dynamic and multi-faceted model for regional economic development and is the vehicle to allow an unprecedented expansion of markets accessible to Southern Maryland producers.  It is a production facility, an instructional facility, and an incubator, built to serve the farming community and their customers.

The RAC will aggregate meats and produce for volume and institutional sales, instruct budding entrepreneurs on regulatory issues, empower meat industry apprenticeships, and even teach children and adults how to cook. The RAC will take Southern Maryland agriculture to the next level by opening new markets and strengthening existing ones; it will be an agricultural and economic engine for Southern Maryland.

The RAC service priorities are:

• A Regional Butcher Shop/Cut and Wrap Facility
• A Finer Meats Processing Facility
• Creating a Southern Maryland Meats Charcuterie Brand
• Apprenticeship Programs and Job Training
• A Meat Locker and Cold Storage Facility
• A Warehouse and Distribution Site
• A Commercial Kitchen
• An Instructional Kitchen Classroom
• A Regional Farmer’s Market
• A Retail Store
• Product Storage Facility

Why does Southern Maryland need the RAC?

If you raise beef, pork, goat, or sheep in Southern Maryland and want to sell the meat retail through farmer’s markets or directly from your farm, your livestock must be slaughtered and processed under USDA inspection.

For more than 11 years SMADC-funded freezer trailers have helped regional meat producers to haul their meats back to their farms from processors in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, the Eastern Shore, and northern Baltimore County. Why? Because currently there are no USDA-inspected facilities in Southern Maryland. The closest USDA processors are hours away; farmers must take valuable time off the farm to transport their animals and return to retrieve their finished products. It is a difficult and inefficient arrangement that adds time and cost to the farmer, and stress to the animals. Localized meat processing is the answer: Local producers working with local processors to sell to local consumers.

If you are a food entrepreneur attempting to introduce a new food product to the local food chain, the lack of regionally located certified commercial kitchens and the ever-increasing burden of regulations are hurdles that you must navigate before you can make, sell and market your product. The RAC will provide future business people with the certified kitchen space, and regulatory instruction required to manufacture, launch and retail their products.

How is the Southern Maryland Regional Agricultural Center funded?

The RAC is funded by a $1.5 million grant from SMADC; the publicly offered grant was awarded to St. Mary’s County Government, which has made a financial commitment to construct the RAC and to provide the land on which it will be built. SMADC is also pursuing grants and contributions to enhance the RAC’s offerings.

The RAC was also awarded $200,000 in funding from Governor Hogan’s budget to specifically fund an area to be used for space dedicated to cold storage, aggregation, and distribution, (SMADC is grateful to Senator Jack Bailey for his assistance in bringing this portion of the funding to this important project).  An additional $28,400 MAERDF grant was generously given to purchase audio/visual equipment for the instructional kitchen. At this time, SMADC’s financial commitment to the RAC project is $1.7 million.

Where will the RAC be located?

The RAC will be located in St. Mary’s County at the Northeast intersection of Route 5 and Route 6 in Charlotte Hall, sharing the location with the existing transfer station.

Who is going to operate the RAC?

SMADC will operate the RAC under a property management contract with St. Mary’s County. The building and permanent fixtures on the building will be owned and maintained by St. Mary’s County. Equipment for food processing will be owned and maintained by SMADC.

The RAC is designed as an entrepreneurial venture that should be self-sustaining with 3-4 years. It is estimated that at full capacity the RAC will employ 17 people with a living wage. Persons working at the RAC may be SMADC employees, or the employees of contractor(s) who would lease certain operations at the RAC.

When is the RAC to open its doors?

The RAC site design plan RFP has been awarded, and is the process of finalization. It is estimated that the RAC will be breaking ground in Spring 2022, with an estimated opening date in the 4th Quarter of 2022.

RESOURCES

WEB-BASED RESOURCES ON USDA CERTIFIED/INSPECTED MEAT PACKING PLANTS

LIST OF USDA PROCESSING FACILITIES IN THE MID-ATLANTIC REGION (Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania.) Facilities listed are within 150 miles of Hughesville, MD. This list was compiled by SOUTHERN MARYLAND MEATS (a program of SMADC).

SLAUGHTERHOUSE AND PROCESSING FACILITIES DATA: FSIS MEAT, POULTRY AND EGG PRODUCT INSPECTION DIRECTORY – Facilities Data supplied by FSIS, current as of July 8, 2013. Livestock Inventory: 2012 U.S. Census of Agriculture. Cartography provided by Maryland Department of Planning Geospatial & Data Analysis Unit.

2012 MARYLAND AGRICULTURAL CENSUS – CATTLE, CALVES, GOATS, SHEEP, HOGS – Data compiled by county and species, from the 2012 U. S. Census of Agriculture.