Last updated 2026-08-21
TL;DR
You still need a Georgia Department of Agriculture plant path even if you never sell a pound. 21 U.S.C. 623 lets you slaughter an owner's livestock for that household only. Mark every package Not for Sale. Build to sanitation and humane-slaughter rules. Confirm current GDA fees and review timing with Meat Inspection. County zoning and wastewater usually take longer than the state paper.
Do you need a license for custom exempt slaughter in Georgia?
Yes, if you slaughter other people's livestock for a fee. The federal custom exemption pulls you out of carcass-by-carcass inspection. It does not pull you out of Georgia's meat establishment rules, sanitation standards, or humane slaughter. Call the Georgia Department of Agriculture Meat Inspection Section and ask what credential they issue for a custom-only plant this year.
Exempt is a term of art. It means exempt from the inspection mandate in the Federal Meat Inspection Act, not exempt from being a food plant. 21 U.S.C. 623 is the federal hook. [1] Georgia runs its own meat and poultry inspection program under the Georgia Meat Inspection Act and Chapter 40-10-1 of the state rules. [7] [8] That program has to stay at least equal to federal rules. [5]
Personal slaughter of animals you raised, for your own household, is a different bucket. That household-use path lives in the same federal section. It is not a green light to cut the neighbor's steer and invoice them. If strangers drop animals and you keep a knife fee, you are in the custom-business lane.
Forming an LLC is Secretary of State work, not a slaughter license. [10] You can have a tidy company and still be illegal on the kill floor. I'd talk to GDA first, then the county planner, then whoever owns wastewater in that county. Skipping the county is how people buy coolers they cannot turn on.
Ask GDA, in writing if you can, whether they want a floor plan, a water test, a waste plan, a species list, and a wild-game add-on. Confirm the current application name and fee. I will not invent a fee. Fees move.
If you later want to sell boxed beef, you are off the custom path. That is state or federal inspection, with an inspector present. Do not mix those stories. The paper is not the same. Alabama's start path is close enough that people shop both states. Read how to start custom exempt slaughter in Alabama if you are on the line.
What does custom exempt slaughter mean in Georgia?
It means you slaughter and cut an animal the owner delivers, and that meat stays in that owner's household. Federal law is blunt about who may eat it. Guests who pay you are not that household. Employees who take a cut as wages start a different problem.
21 U.S.C. 623 says the inspection mandate does not apply "to the custom slaughter by any person, firm, or corporation of cattle, sheep, swine, or goats delivered by the owner thereof for such slaughter" when the meat is only for that owner's household, nonpaying guests, and employees. [1] 9 CFR 303.1 is the USDA rule that turns that sentence into plant conditions, including sanitation and marking. [2]
You do not get a USDA legend. You do not get a Georgia inspected mark either. The package says Not for Sale, and it means it. People still try to slide a few packs to a restaurant. That is how exemptions die.
Georgia's program exists because Congress let states run inspection if they stay at least equal to FSIS. FSIS states it "provides up to 50 percent of the State's operating funds for the costs of inspection." [5] That cooperative money is why GDA, not a random county clerk, owns the meat plant conversation.
Custom work can sit in a plant that also runs an inspected side, but the rooms, records, and product have to stay honest. I would not start there. First year, pick one story. Custom only is simpler paper and a smaller cooler bill. Inspected sales need a grant of inspection and a daily inspector. Different business.
Poultry has its own custom text in 21 U.S.C. 464 and 9 CFR 381.10. [11] [12] Do not assume a livestock custom approval covers birds. Ask GDA about each species before you advertise a chicken day.
How much does custom exempt slaughter cost in Georgia?
There is no honest single price. The Georgia Department of Agriculture sets the license and review fees, and you confirm the current schedule with Meat Inspection. The real money is a washable building, refrigeration, hot water, and a legal way to handle blood and paunch manure.
I will not post a made-up GDA fee. Anyone who quotes you a statewide plant-license number from memory is guessing. Ask Atlanta for the current sheet. The state fee is usually the small line on the spreadsheet anyway.
The big tickets are site work, concrete that drains, stainless or other cleanable surfaces, a rail or hoist that will not fail on a mature cow, and coolers that actually pull heat. Used supermarket cases are a waste if you cannot sell meat. You do not need a retail display. You need cold rooms and a floor you can sanitize.
Wastewater is where Georgia projects stall. A pretty kill floor with nowhere legal for the pit water is just a liability. County environmental health handles many septic questions. Larger process flows can pull in the Environmental Protection Division under the state water-quality rules. [14] Price that before you order a hide puller.
Labor, insurance, electricity, and packaging eat the first year. Custom plants live on throughput and no-shows. Owners who do not show still cost you a slot. Write that into the drop contract.
If you want a feel for how another nearby state talks about money, custom exempt slaughter cost in Alabama is a useful comparison read. Still confirm every Georgia number with GDA and your contractor. Nobody has a clean public data set for turnkey Georgia locker plants. Treat internet build prices as rumors.
| Cost bucket | Who sets it | Confirm with |
|---|---|---|
| State plant credential | GDA Meat Inspection | GDA, current fee sheet |
| Company formation | Secretary of State | SOS LLC guide |
| Building and zoning | City or county | Local planning and building |
| Septic or process water | County EH and sometimes EPD | County health office and EPD |
| Cooler, rail, hot water | You and the contractor | Someone who has built a kill floor |
How long does custom exempt slaughter take in Georgia?
There are two clocks, and people mash them together. Opening the plant is measured in seasons. Killing one animal is measured in minutes on the floor and days in the cooler. I will not invent a GDA approval time. Confirm review timing with Meat Inspection. There is no public statewide stopwatch I trust.
Opening time is usually county work, not Atlanta paper. Zoning, building permits, well or public-water letters, and wastewater design can sit for months. A retrofit of a cleanable existing building can move faster than a new pour on red clay with no sewer. Flood plains and neighbors slow things. Budget calendar time, not a long weekend.
GDA still has to accept the plant before you take the first customer animal. They will want to see the floor, water, waste story, and how you mark product. Ask them what a first walk-through looks like and whether they review drawings. Do not treat a friendly phone call as approval.
On the animal clock, a practiced crew can knock, stick, skin, eviscerate, and hang a beef faster than most owners expect. The real wait is chill. You do not cut warm. You hang, you cool, you cut, you pack, you call the owner. Deer season will wreck your calendar if you also take hunter game. Say no before you drown.
FSIS runs the custom plants it oversees on its own directive, and that directive is built around periodic custom-exempt review, not a daily inspector. [6] Georgia custom plants under GDA follow GDA's calendar. Ask GDA how often they walk a custom-only plant. Do not assume the federal directive is your appointment book.
If someone promises you a 30-day open, walk away. They do not control the county.
What paperwork does the Georgia Department of Agriculture want?
Start with a phone call to GDA Meat Inspection and ask for the current custom-establishment packet. Then send what they name. Typical asks in this kind of program are an application, a simple floor plan, water source, waste plan, species, and whether you also cut hunter-killed deer. Confirm each item. Packets change.
The legal backbone you are fitting into is the Georgia Meat Inspection Act. The short title is in O.C.G.A. § 26-2-100. [7] The operating detail sits in Georgia Rules Chapter 40-10-1. [8] Read those before you draw a pretty logo. The rule chapter is dull and useful.
You also need ordinary business paper. If you want limited liability, form the company with the Secretary of State. [10] Get an EIN from IRS. Ask your county about a local business license. Sales tax on a custom service is a Department of Revenue question, not a meat-inspection question. I am not going to guess your tax category.
Sanitation writing still matters even when you are not an official inspected plant. 9 CFR 303.1 points custom operations at sanitation duties in 9 CFR 416.1 through 416.6. [2] [3] That is not a full HACCP novel. It is keep it clean and prove you thought about it. I would write short SSOP-style pages you will actually follow. Fancy binders nobody opens are a waste of money.
If you are assembling exemption language, Not for Sale mark specs, and a sanitation checklist, CustomExemptPath publishes a $249 one-time USDA Custom-Exempt Kit at /start. Use it as a paper organizer. It is not a license and it is not legal advice. CustomExemptPath is an independent publisher, not a law firm and not a service company.
Keep owner affidavits or intake tickets that name the owner, the animal, the date, and that the meat is not for sale. 9 CFR 303.1 expects custom operators to keep records that show the work stayed inside the exemption. [2] If GDA asks and you shrug, you have a problem.
What building, water, and waste rules apply in Georgia?
A custom plant still has to be a place you can wash. Porous wood, dirt floors, and a garden hose in January will not cut it. 9 CFR 416 is the sanitation frame custom rules point at. [3] GDA will walk the building. Local building code still applies on top of that.
Water has to be potable in the amounts a kill day actually uses. A household well that wheezes when two hydrants open is not a plant well. Test it. Ask the county what they want to see. Public water is easier on paper and not always available on the tract you can afford.
Waste is the unglamorous half of the business. Blood, paunch contents, floor water, and condemned material cannot go in the ditch. Process wastewater above a septic system's comfort zone can pull in EPD under Chapter 391-3-6. [14] I would hire the wastewater person before I hire the logo person. Talk to your county environmental health office about the onsite sewage side before you assume a septic tank handles a kill floor.
Zoning is local. A farm-use story that works in a rural county can fail inside a city limit. Tell the planner you are slaughtering livestock for a fee. If you hide that, the complaint after the first Saturday will be uglier than the hearing you skipped.
Inedible handling, hide storage, and dead-stock pickup need a plan. Flies will write your reviews for you. A sealed barrel and a pickup schedule beat a pile behind the chiller.
I would not build a glass storefront. Neighbors already know what you do. Spend the money on floor drains that slope and a hot-water heater that does not quit at noon.
Can you sell meat from a custom exempt plant in Georgia?
No. Custom-exempt meat is not for sale. Not at a farmers market. Not out of a cooler in the parking lot. Not to a restaurant that knows the farmer. 21 U.S.C. 623 limits the product to the owner's household, nonpaying guests, and employees. [1]
If you want to sell, you need state inspection or federal inspection. State-inspected meat can move inside Georgia under the state mark. Federally inspected meat can cross state lines under the USDA legend. Custom product gets neither mark.
| Path | Can you sell the meat? | Inspector on every kill? | Mark on the package |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom exempt | No | No | Not for Sale |
| State inspected | Yes, in Georgia | Yes | State inspection legend |
| Federal inspected | Yes, including interstate | Yes | USDA legend |
Owners can take their own meat home. That is the point. You can charge for the service. You cannot buy the carcass back and resell it. You cannot keep trim as your cut and sell the trim. That is product, not a tip.
Crossing a state line does not launder the exemption into a sales license. The statute talks about transportation in commerce for that household use. It does not create a roadside retail right. If you are serving owners who live in Alabama, stay inside custom rules and read custom exempt slaughter license in Alabama so you do not invent a two-state retail story.
Sell one pack and you have left the exemption. Uninspected meat sold as food is the kind of case FSIS and state programs exist to stop. I would fire a customer who asks you to do it just this once before I would risk the plant.
What labels and records do you have to keep?
Mark custom product Not for Sale so a stranger can read it. 9 CFR 303.1 makes that marking part of staying inside the exemption. [2] Do it at prep, not at the door when the owner is already backing in. Ink that smears off in the cooler is not a mark.
I would put the owner's name, the kill date or cut date, the species, and Not for Sale on every bag. Fancy brand stories are optional. The exemption text is not. Do not put a fake inspection legend on the bag. That is a different offense.
Records should let you reconstruct a day. Who owned the animal. What came in. What went out. What you condemned. What inedible left with the renderer. 9 CFR 303.1 expects custom operators to keep records that support the exemption. [2] Keep them longer than you think. Ask GDA what retention they want.
Intake tickets beat a notebook in a drawer. If two brothers own a steer, write both names and who is taking which boxes. Family fights are not an inspection issue until someone claims you sold their beef.
Wild game, if GDA lets you cut it in that room, needs its own identity. Do not let a deer and a beef share a story on the same ticket. Separate days if you can. Separate utensils if you cannot.
Cameras are optional. A dated ticket is not.
Which animals and humane slaughter rules apply in Georgia?
The federal custom text in 21 U.S.C. 623 names cattle, sheep, swine, and goats. [1] Equines sit in a different political and market mess. I would not build a Georgia custom business on horse slaughter. Ask GDA before you advertise anything outside the usual food animals.
Humane slaughter still applies. The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act is not optional because you are custom. 7 U.S.C. 1902 requires a rapid, effective method that renders the animal insensible to pain before you shackle, hoist, throw, cast, or cut, with a separate ritual-slaughter path. [9] 9 CFR 313 is the how-to rule book for the stunning side. [4]
If your stunner fails, you stop. A second device on the wall is cheaper than a cruelty case. Train the people who actually knock animals, more than the owner who paid for the class.
Poultry is not livestock. Custom poultry lives under 21 U.S.C. 464 and 9 CFR 381.10. [11] [12] Bird rooms have different flow and different filth problems. Confirm a poultry add-on with GDA before the first flock hits the driveway.
Hunter-killed deer are a Georgia locker staple. They are not FMIA livestock. Mixing deer and domestic animals without a plan is how you explain hair and lead fragments to an inspector. Ask GDA how they want game handled in a custom livestock plant. I would give game its own days in season.
Feral hogs sit in a gray conversation. Confirm the current GDA view. Do not invent a classification because a customer said it was a pig.
What does the first year of operations actually look like?
Slow, then slammed, then slow again. Spring calves do not all show up in April. Deer season will if you let it. The plant either has a booking sheet with deposits or it has chaos. I would take deposits.
You will spend more time washing than cutting. That is the job. 9 CFR 416 reads like a sanitation lecture because dirty plants make people sick. [3] If you hate washdown, do not open.
No-shows hurt. A hanging beef you staged labor for, and an empty chute, still costs payroll. Write a cancel rule and keep it. Friends will test it.
Cash flow is ugly before word of mouth lands. You pay for electricity and refrigerant whether three animals or thirty come in. I would keep a second income the first year if I could. Pride is a poor lender.
Inspectors and reviewers will find something. Take the note, fix the floor drain, move on. Arguing about a hose bib is a waste of a relationship you need.
Hire for Saturday stamina, not for Instagram. A second stunner, a backup saw, and a plumber who answers are better purchases than a new wrap machine. Owners can take product in bags. They cannot take product from a down cooler.
Insurance, workers' compensation if you have staff, and a renderer contract belong on the opening list. So does a written refusal policy for downer animals you will not drag.
What mistakes get Georgia custom plants in trouble?
Selling the meat. That is the career-ending one. Everything else is repairable longer than an uninspected sale. 21 U.S.C. 623 does not have a wink clause. [1]
The second mistake is dirty. Custom is not a free pass on filth. 9 CFR 303.1 and 9 CFR 416 still expect a plant you can sanitize. [2] [3] A rail coated in fat and a drain full of paunch is not rustic. It is a shutdown.
The third is humane failures. A dull captive bolt and a crowd pen that breaks legs will draw the kind of attention you cannot talk down. Read 9 CFR 313 before you take money. [4]
Bad identity is next. Unmarked boxes, mixed owners, and a cooler that doubles as the family beer fridge. Put names on things. Lock the door.
Waste dumped on the back slope will bring a different badge. County environmental health and EPD do not care that your meat paper was tidy. [14]
Advertising farm fresh beef for sale on a custom-only Facebook page is how you write your own complaint. Advertise the service. The owner already owns the animal.
I would also avoid promising drop-off times you cannot hit. Late product makes people invent stories about missing cuts. Those stories become official if they are loud enough.
How does starting in Georgia compare to nearby states?
The federal exemption is the same sentence in every state. 21 U.S.C. 623 does not change at the Chattahoochee. [1] What changes is who walks your floor and how local wastewater and zoning behave.
Georgia has a state meat inspection program that must stay at least equal to FSIS, with federal money covering up to 50 percent of that program's operating inspection costs. [5] So does Alabama. If you are comparing a plant on either side of the line, read how to start custom exempt slaughter in Alabama and the Alabama custom exempt license walkthrough next to this page. Confirm both states. Do not assume the forms match.
Arkansas is another state-program conversation. How to start custom exempt slaughter in Arkansas and the Arkansas license page are the right next clicks if your animals or your land sit west. Arizona's license path is a drier, different building problem. Custom exempt slaughter license in Arizona is useful if you are reading rules across states, not if you are pouring a slab in Tifton.
California and Colorado have their own inspector culture and water fights. How to start custom exempt slaughter in California and how to start custom exempt slaughter in Colorado will not pull your Gwinnett permit. They will keep you from thinking Georgia invented this.
Stay in Georgia if your animals and your owners are here. Cross-border cleverness is how simple custom work becomes a jurisdiction mess.
What would I do first if I were starting in Georgia?
I would call GDA Meat Inspection and ask three things. What credential does a custom-only livestock plant need right now. What fee is on the current schedule. What do they want to see before the first animal. Write the answers down. Then I would call the county planner and the septic or EPD contact for that parcel.
I would not buy equipment yet. A used bandsaw is not a site plan. I would spend money on a simple floor layout from someone who has built a locker, a wastewater sketch, and a cooler sized for the hang time you actually need.
I would pick custom only for year one unless I already had a sales book that justified an inspector. Selling meat is a different company. People blur that because they want both the exemption and the farmers-market cash. You get one.
I would write the Not for Sale mark into the packaging order and the owner ticket on day one. [2] I would write a downer-animal refusal. I would write a no-show deposit rule.
I would walk a working custom plant if the owner will let me, wash a floor, and then decide. If that day feels like a chore you hate, stop. The rest is paper.
After you have talked to GDA, if you still want a federal-exemption paper kit to organize marks and sanitation notes, the CustomExemptPath kit is at /start. Talk to the state first. The kit does not replace that call.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a license for custom exempt slaughter in Georgia?
Yes, if you slaughter other people's livestock for a fee. The 21 U.S.C. 623 custom exemption removes continuous carcass inspection, not Georgia's plant path. Call GDA Meat Inspection and confirm the current credential, application, and fee. Household slaughter of your own animals is a different, narrower lane.
How much does custom exempt slaughter cost in Georgia?
There is no single honest number. Confirm GDA's current plant fee with Meat Inspection. The large costs are a washable building, refrigeration, hot water, labor, and a legal wastewater path through county environmental health or EPD. Used retail cases are a poor buy if you cannot sell meat.
How long does custom exempt slaughter take in Georgia?
Opening is usually measured in seasons because county zoning, building, and wastewater dominate. GDA still has to accept the plant. Confirm review timing with Meat Inspection. Do not trust a 30-day promise. Killing one animal is fast on the floor. Chill and cut days are the owner's real wait.
Can I slaughter my own animals on my farm without opening a plant?
Household use of animals you raised sits in 21 U.S.C. 623 and is not the same as a custom business. Zoning, dead-animal disposal, and water rules still apply. The moment neighbors pay you to kill their livestock, you are in the licensed-plant conversation. Confirm edge cases with GDA.
Can a Georgia custom plant also sell state-inspected meat?
Only if you add a real inspected path, with the inspector and marks that path requires. Custom rooms and inspected rooms cannot share a wink. Many first-year operators should pick custom only. Selling meat is a different paper stack and a different cooler story.
Does custom exempt cover poultry in Georgia?
Not automatically. Poultry custom work lives under 21 U.S.C. 464 and 9 CFR 381.10. Ask GDA Meat Inspection whether your livestock custom approval includes birds before you book a flock. Assume no until they say yes in a way you can keep on file.
Can I process hunter-killed deer at a custom exempt livestock plant?
Often that is a separate GDA conversation, not an FMIA livestock right. Deer are not cattle under 21 U.S.C. 623. If GDA allows game in that building, keep identity, days, and tools from turning into a mixed story. Confirm the current rule before deer season advertising.
Do I need a HACCP plan for custom-only slaughter in Georgia?
Official inspected plants live under 9 CFR 417. Custom-only operations are built on the 21 U.S.C. 623 exemption and 9 CFR 303.1 conditions, including sanitation pieces in 9 CFR 416.1 through 416.6. Ask GDA what written sanitation they want. A short plan you follow beats a HACCP novel you ignore.
What does a Not for Sale mark have to say?
The package must be plainly marked Not for Sale so the exemption is obvious. 9 CFR 303.1 makes that marking part of legal custom work. Put the owner's name and a date on the bag too. Do not add a fake inspection legend. Confirm any size or wording detail GDA wants on the current walk-through.
Can custom exempt meat leave Georgia with the owner?
21 U.S.C. 623 contemplates transportation in commerce of custom product for that owner's household use. That is not a sales license in the next state. The owner is taking their own meat home. You still cannot sell it. Operating cute two-state retail out of a custom plant is how exemptions end.
Is mobile custom slaughter legal in Georgia?
Treat it as a GDA-specific yes or no, not a hallway rumor. Some states permit a reviewed mobile custom unit. Georgia's current stance is something you confirm with Meat Inspection before you buy a trailer. A pretty trailer with no state path is just an expensive violation.
What happens if I sell one package of custom meat?
You have left the exemption. Uninspected meat offered for sale is the core thing 21 U.S.C. 623 does not allow. State and federal programs can seize product and pursue the plant. I would rather lose a customer than explain a sale. There is no de minimis wink in that statute.
Who do I call first at the state?
The Georgia Department of Agriculture Meat Inspection Section. Ask for the current custom-establishment application, fee, and pre-op expectations. Then call the county planner and the septic or EPD contact for the land. Secretary of State formation can wait a week. Water and zoning cannot.
Do employees at a custom plant need a special slaughter card?
GDA sets any training they want to see. Humane slaughter skill is not optional under 7 U.S.C. 1902 and 9 CFR 313. A county food-handler card, if your county uses one, does not replace stunner training. Ask GDA what they currently expect on a custom floor and train to that.
Sources
- Cornell LII, 21 U.S.C. § 623: Federal custom slaughter exemption for owner-delivered cattle, sheep, swine, or goats used only in that owner's household
- eCFR, 9 CFR 303.1 Exemptions: USDA rule conditions for custom operations, including sanitation references and Not for Sale marking and records
- eCFR, 9 CFR Part 416 Sanitation: Sanitation performance standards that 9 CFR 303.1 points custom operations toward (416.1 through 416.6)
- eCFR, 9 CFR Part 313 Humane slaughter of livestock: Federal humane-slaughter methods and handling rules that still apply on a custom floor
- USDA FSIS, State Inspection Programs: State MPI programs must be at least equal to federal rules, and FSIS provides up to 50 percent of the state's operating funds for inspection costs
- USDA FSIS Directive 5930.1, Custom Exempt Review: FSIS custom-exempt review framework for plants it oversees (Georgia state custom plants follow GDA's own review calendar)
- O.C.G.A. § 26-2-100, Georgia Meat Inspection Act short title: Georgia's meat inspection statute is cited as the Georgia Meat Inspection Act
- Georgia Rules Chapter 40-10-1, Meat Inspection: Georgia Department of Agriculture meat inspection rules that implement the state program custom plants sit under
- Cornell LII, 7 U.S.C. § 1902: Humane Methods of Slaughter Act requirement to render livestock insensible to pain before shackling, hoisting, or cutting
- Georgia Secretary of State, How to form a limited liability company: Company formation with the Secretary of State is separate from a GDA slaughter credential
- eCFR, 9 CFR 381.10 Poultry exemptions: Poultry custom and related exemptions are a separate rule from livestock 9 CFR 303.1
- Cornell LII, 21 U.S.C. § 464: Statutory poultry inspection exemptions, including custom-type household use, are not the livestock custom text
- Georgia Rules Chapter 391-3-6, Water Quality Control: Process wastewater beyond a simple septic story can fall under EPD water-quality permitting rules