Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors

06/11/2026

A local favorite in West Bend is celebrating a milestone this month with big awards and big cuts of meat. Brian Kramp is at West Bend Sausage Plus checking out their award-winning meats.

05/30/2026

Registration is closing soon! Time to register to utilize the reduced rate for WAMP (or any AAMP Affiliate) members!!!

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is introducing an Artisanal Meat Processing Workshop on June 9-11. The inaugural Artisanal Meat Processing Workshop will be comprised of four in-plant demonstrations that will take place in the state-of-the-art, Meat Science & Animal Biologics Discovery USDA Inspected processing plant. Demonstrations and examples of products manufactured will be:

* Artisanal Dry & Semi-Dry Sausages & Dry Cured Demonstration - E.g., Bresaola, Lachshinken, Pancetta Tessa, Coppa, Mini Salami, Landjaeger, Lap Cheong
* Artisanal Cooked & Emulsified Sausages Demonstration - E.g., Natural Casing Wiener/Knackwurst, Weisswurst, Kase Kriener, Leberkase, Pre-cooked bratwurst, Irish Banger, Currywurst
* Artisanal Liver & Jellied, Specialty Sausages Demonstration - E.g., German Liver Sausage, German Homestyle Liver Sausage, Kishka, Jaternice, Gelatin Based/Included Products
* Artisanal Fresh Sausages Demonstration - E.g., Basic German Bratwurst, Polish, Thuringer Rostbratwurst, Nurenberg Bratwurst, Italian Sausage, Chorizo Verde, South African Boerewors, Swedish Potato Sausage, Hmong Sausage

This brand-new short course takes a comprehensive approach to exploring old-world meat products and their production while marrying them with modern times and manufacturing technologies. Participants will learn about the science, safety, and production or an array of heritage products ranging from cooked & emulsified sausages, dry & semi-dry sausages, dry-cured whole muscle products, and many more. Instructors (including award winning sausage makers) and experts from industry and academia will share their knowledge about these historically important and unique products and teach the what (they are) and how (to make them) of an array of old world products. Product sampling, evaluation, and discussions will complement classroom presentations and plant manufacturing demonstrations.

For more information: https://charge.wisc.edu/animalscience/Workshops.aspx

05/29/2026

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is introducing an Artisanal Meat Processing Workshop on June 9-11. The inaugural Artisanal Meat Processing Workshop will be comprised of four in-plant demonstrations that will take place in the state-of-the-art, Meat Science & Animal Biologics Discovery USDA Inspected processing plant. Demonstrations and examples of products manufactured will be:

* Artisanal Dry & Semi-Dry Sausages & Dry Cured Demonstration - E.g., Bresaola, Lachshinken, Pancetta Tessa, Coppa, Mini Salami, Landjaeger, Lap Cheong
* Artisanal Cooked & Emulsified Sausages Demonstration - E.g., Natural Casing Wiener/Knackwurst, Weisswurst, Kase Kriener, Leberkase, Pre-cooked bratwurst, Irish Banger, Currywurst
* Artisanal Liver & Jellied, Specialty Sausages Demonstration - E.g., German Liver Sausage, German Homestyle Liver Sausage, Kishka, Jaternice, Gelatin Based/Included Products
* Artisanal Fresh Sausages Demonstration - E.g., Basic German Bratwurst, Polish, Thuringer Rostbratwurst, Nurenberg Bratwurst, Italian Sausage, Chorizo Verde, South African Boerewors, Swedish Potato Sausage, Hmong Sausage

This brand-new short course takes a comprehensive approach to exploring old-world meat products and their production while marrying them with modern times and manufacturing technologies. Participants will learn about the science, safety, and production or an array of heritage products ranging from cooked & emulsified sausages, dry & semi-dry sausages, dry-cured whole muscle products, and many more. Instructors (including award winning sausage makers) and experts from industry and academia will share their knowledge about these historically important and unique products and teach the what (they are) and how (to make them) of an array of old world products. Product sampling, evaluation, and discussions will complement classroom presentations and plant manufacturing demonstrations.

For more information: https://charge.wisc.edu/animalscience/Workshops.aspx

05/28/2026

Thank you to Tanya Nueske and the team at Nueske's Applewood Smoked Meats for hosting a tour today with Representative Brent Jacobson, Senator Cory Tomczyk, and Michelle Kussow and Matthew Kussow, lobbyists for WAMP. A great opportunity to connect the meat processing industry with legislative leaders in Wisconsin.

05/27/2026

Congratulations Kelsey!!!

To kick off our 2026 professional award announcements, AMSA is excited to recognize the recipients of the Achievement Award, sponsored by Burke Corporation.
This award recognizes and encourages the development of early-career AMSA members from academia, industry, and government who have demonstrated significant skills and contributions to the animal products industry and the American Meat Science Association.

Congratulations to this year’s recipients:
• Cody Gifford – University of Wyoming
• Kelsey Sindelar – Jones Dairy Farm
• Chaoyu Zhai – University of Connecticut

05/11/2026

05/08/2026

USDA Rural Development has opened Phase Four of the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Grant Program. The primary purpose of MPPEP Phase 4 is to support the American Beef Industry by diversifying the meat and poultry supply chain and opening local market opportunities. The applicant’s facility must primary process cattle in order for the project to be eligible for the program, however, funds or equipment may be used for processing meat and poultry at the facility.

Grant funding in the amount of $60 million is available under this Program.

Applications will be accepted from May 7, 2026, through August 7, 2026. Applications must be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on August 7, 2026, through Grants.gov.

Two types of applications for each of the funding competitions will be accepted:

1. Processing Expansion Projects. Awards will range from $50,000 to $2 million to support a range of activities to increase and diversify processing capacity of American meat and poultry, including Equipment-only purchases over $250,000, and necessary improvements, upgrades, renovations or retrofits to an existing Facility needed to install the Equipment. A match requirement of 50 percent of the project cost is required for Processing Expansion Projects.

2. Simplified Equipment-Only Projects. Awards will range from $10,000 to $250,000 for projects that only request the cost of equipment and do not include renovation, labor, installation, or certification costs. A match requirement of 25 percent of the project cost is required for Simplified Equipment-Only Projects.

Visit https://aamp.com/page/grants for more details.

The home page for MPPEP Phase 4 is https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/business-programs/meat-and-poultry-processing-expansion-program-phase-4

The Grants.gov page for MPPEP Phase 4 is https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/362298

05/07/2026

UW MSABD is offering reduced rates for members of state meat processor organizations (like WAMP) for their brand new program, the Artisanal Meat Processing Workshop!

Registration and more details below ⬇️

Join our brand new workshop this June 9-11. The Artisanal Meat Processing Workshop makes its debut this summer.

Take a comprehensive look at “old world” meat products. Come explore traditional production of historical processed meat products, and how to marry it with modern manufacturing technologies and food safety requirements. Instructors (including award-winning sausage makers) will work alongside experts from industry and academia to share their knowledge about these unique products. The course will provide a comprehensive education on artisanal meat processing for attendees with diverse backgrounds, needs, and interests at any level of experience.

Register at meatsciences.cals.wisc.edu/artisanal-meat-processing-workshop

04/23/2026

We are waiting to hear more information about the next round of Meat and Poultry Expansion Program (MPEP) grants, which should be available in the near future. Meanwhile, we have this to share:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced $32.4 million in grant funding available through the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) to help local and regional food entities develop, coordinate, and expand producer-to-consumer marketing, local and regional food markets, and local food enterprises. LAMP includes the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP), Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP), and the Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP). USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is accepting applications for the grant programs until June 5, 2026.

Through FMPP and LFPP, USDA is making $27.68 million available. FMPP funds projects that develop, coordinate, and expand direct producer-to-consumer markets such as farmers markets, roadside stands, agritourism activities, community-supported agriculture programs (CSA), or online sales. LFPP funds projects that develop and expand local and regional food business enterprises that engage as intermediaries in indirect producer to consumer marketing such as shared-use kitchens, food hubs, and food incubators.

This year, $4.71 million in funding is available through the RFSP to support public-private partnerships that plan and develop relationships between local and regional producers, processors, intermediaries, and institutional markets or institutional food service operations.

LAMP and its accompanying grant programs are administered by USDA AMS and are funded through the 2018 Farm Bill. These programs require a 25% cash match of federal funds being requested.

More details are available at https://aamp.com/page/grants.

04/23/2026