Meat-Packing Industry

Meat-Packing Industry, large industry involving the slaughtering, processing, and distribution of cattle, sheep, and hogs. It is one of the most important industries in the U.S. and has its primary concentration in the Middle West.

The packing industry has tended to decentralize in recent years, and slaughtered livestock are now generally moved directly from farms, ranches, and feedlots to meat-packers.

The cattle-slaughtering sector of the industry, in particular, has become concentrated in cattle-raising regions to the west—namely the western Corn Belt and the Great Plains, where beef is shipped to wholesalers and retailers primarily in the form of fresh primal cuts.

Hog slaughtering is still carried on chiefly in large plants, where the hogs are processed into numerous cuts and products.

In accordance with the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1978, all livestock are now made insensible before they are killed. For cattle and sheep, a captive bolt, a type of gun designed for stunning, is generally used. Hogs often are immobilized painlessly through gassing.

Many parts of the slaughtered animals are shipped for consumption as fresh meat; other parts, especially of the hog, are cured and smoked. The fatty portions are converted into lard and commercial grease by rendering processes.

Bones are converted into glue, fertilizer, animal feeds, and other usable products, including pharmaceuticals; hoofs and horns are used or sold for other purposes.