Push to loosen regulations on New Hampshire meat industry meets veto

New Hampshire legislators’ efforts to deregulate meat processing for certain of the state’s small producers has stalled after Gov. Kelly Ayotte vetoed the measure Friday.

“Agriculture is an important part of our state’s economy and heritage, and I appreciate the bill’s intent to provide additional meat processing access for small farmers and producers,” Ayotte wrote in a message announcing the veto. However, she continued, passing the bill would put New Hampshire in violation of federal food safety laws. 

House Bill 396, from Barnstead Republican Barbara Comtois, sought to allow farmers to sell certain meat products, within state lines, from animals that had been slaughtered and processed on the farm rather than at a slaughterhouse facility certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

Such a move would violate the federal Meat Inspection Act, which requires farmers to work with U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified programs or send their livestock to department-certified facilities for processing. In her veto message, Ayotte cited a letter from federal officials asserting that passage of the bill would put New Hampshire in violation of the law. 

Discussing the bill earlier this year, some New Hampshire farmers said the state was facing a shortage of slaughterhouses that forced them to wait for processing appointments and constrained their business. But others said they would have concerns about food safety if inspection requirements were loosened.

In her Friday statement, Ayotte said she would direct Shawn Jasper, commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, “to convene a group of our small producers to discuss a path forward that does not violate federal law.”