How we check listings
Local Meat Processors lists places that will process your animal: hunters' deer and other game, and farmers' own cattle, hogs and lambs.
Where the listings come from
In Wisconsin we start from two government lists:
- The Wisconsin DATCP meat establishment directory: every custom and state-inspected meat plant licensed by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, with its licence number, address and licensed activities.
- The Wisconsin DNR Deer Donation Program list: the processors that take donated deer this season. Being on it confirms a processor takes hunters' deer.
Then we read each processor's own website, where there is one (47 of 133 listings so far), for hours, prices and services. Prices are copied as the processor writes them, with the year when the page gives one.
What we leave out
Restaurants, grocers and caterers that hold a meat licence but don't take a customer's animal, teaching plants, and licences held under a person's own name with no business name. Directories and review sites are used only to find places, never as a source of facts.
What the types mean
- Custom-exempt plant
- It holds a Wisconsin DATCP custom licence: it processes an animal for the animal's owner, and the meat goes back to the owner's household. It is not for sale.
- State-inspected plant
- It holds a Wisconsin DATCP official licence, so a state inspector oversees the plant. Official plants may also do custom work on hunters’ and farmers’ animals.
- USDA-inspected plant
- It works under federal (USDA) inspection rather than a state licence.
- Wild game processor
- It takes hunters’ game. We found no state meat licence for it; under DATCP’s wild game rules, a business that processes only wild game does not need one.
Gaps and dates
Each listing shows the date we last checked it and links every source. When a source is missing a detail, or two sources disagree (a different phone number on the DNR list and the licence, say), the listing says so in plain words and asks you to call ahead, rather than guessing.
Processors change hours for each deer season and sign up for the Deer Donation Program every year, so we re-check every listing at least every three months and before each season. The lists were last read on November 3, 2026.
Who runs this site
Local Meat Processors is independent. It is not a government website, and it is not run by, paid by or affiliated with the DATCP, the DNR or any processor.
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